We always knew we wanted three kids. We imagined our kids would be close enough in age that they could be pals and schoolmates. Instead, our kids were far enough apart that my friends thought I failed a course in family planning?or they assumed we had fertility issues. Our youngest is five-and-a-half years behind our middle kid, and eight years younger than our eldest.
In total, this means I spent 16 years in elementary school?as a parent. Students graduated, teachers retired, the administration changed and I was still trudging to the same drop-off and pickup every day.
At one point, my three kids were in high school, middle school and early elementary school. This age spread seemed like an eternity to most of my mom friends.
?What were you thinking"? they?d say with a snicker. To them, our youngest looked like the proverbial accident. The truth is, it took a full five years to catch our breath and adjust after having our second. Having two kids turned out to be a much bigger challenge than we?d expected because our second child struggled socially and emotionally, and needed tons of extra attention and support. By the time we felt we could actually handle a third, five years had passed. Still, I understood why those friends were amused by our configuration. They knew there were tricky things about the age range, and it would have been easier if we had quit before the third child. At our house, there was little to interest everyone at once. We couldn?t all watch the sam...