Dear Mom of Closely Spaced Siblings

I was in the checkout line at Joann’s and saw a mom with two small boys in front of me. The boys looked close in age. Being a mother of closely spaced siblings, I asked her how far apart they were. They were 20 months.

Kate and Caroline are 14 months apart. That means I was super pregnant when Kate had her 1st birthday party and she was barely over 1 when Caroline was born. I know for a lot of people that’s not an ideal situation. Essentially we had two babies but they were at different stages of life. One was a recent walker and big talker and the other had jaundice and didn’t want to breastfeed. They were both babies.

I told the woman that our girls were 14 months apart. I mentioned that I LOVE the age gap. She asked me if I was tired. I think she wanted to ask me if I was crazy.

No. No, I’m not tired (and I’m not crazy, either). I’m at the point where I can finally breathe with them. I can do something for myself and the two of them keep each other occupied. Sometimes we go all day with them out of sight and playing with each other. Yes, they fight. They fight fiercely when they do, too. For the most part, they are glued at the hip. Neither one wants to do anything without the other. They are currently working on beating the World Record for the most nights sleeping together. {Their record is 6 so far.}

I thought of all the things I wanted to say to the mom. Because I didn’t say them, I’ll write to moms of closely spaced siblings everywhere.

Dear mama of closely spaced siblings,

I know you are tired. I know you feel like you are always changing a diaper, getting someone dressed, cooking, cleaning, and feeding someone.

That’s because you are.

Having babies at different stages is hard work. Heck, having babies at the same stage is hard work. But I promise it gets better.

I swear.

Before you know it, those kids aren’t going to want you to rock them at night. They’re not going to want to hear a bedtime story because they are going to be so excited to read that they want to do it themselves.

The deafening sound of the chaos, which used to pierce your ears and give you a headache, is slowly going to get dimmer and dimmer. Before you know it you are going to be in the sweet spot.

Embrace the chaos.

Embrace the mess.

The days of you questioning your sanity are going to feel like they last forever. I can’t promise you there will be a time that you will miss it, but I can promise you that when you look back, it’s going to have passed quickly.

xoxo
–a mama who’s in the sweet spot
(With 2 kids at least! The 3rd one is getting there.)

Here are some photos that show the relationship that Kate and Caroline have: