Before I had my first child, I casually assumed I’d have two or three kids fairly close together because, well, why not? That plan seemed logical and "normal" enough, and didn’t require too much explanation. I mean, the main questions posed are when to have a second child (I wish there was a magic answer), how much do we care about the possibility of having more than one kid in college at the same time (not very much), and what if they’re all the same gender (eh, don’t care)? However, now that my son is almost two and (spoiler alert!) I’m not currently pregnant, a few things are clear. Among them are the fact that I’m enjoying all the brie and blue cheese and smoked salmon I can, and looking forward to riding roller coasters this spring, but also the fact that I feel ever-so-slightly more knowledgeable about what it takes to raise a kid now that I’m in the midst of it. Like, I call the doctor’s office way less now than I did in my son’s first couple months at home, and I remember to respond when someone refers to me as “Mama.”
So, perhaps it’s obvious then that with my new parenting skillz, I’m also revisiting the ideas I previously had about family size. The good news? Now my friends are having their second babies (and third, and in some cases, fourth babies). This is important because, in addition to the human life they’re bringing into this world and into their families, I can also ask them some questions! For example: