so did I

I for one would prefer my kids to be far apart in age by 4-6 years so I'm not stuck with a bunch of babies because that's a bit ridiculous. It is different for everyone though but I would not like to have a ton of kids in diapers and bottles unless it was like twins or something.

I've got a 40 year-old and a 2 year-old. These folks don't know age difference. That 10 year old needs some definite reprogramming if he thinks this is acceptable conversation and it will genuinely benefit both society and him to learn he is not the center of the cosmos.

Better for the kids to have siblings that are close in age so they can play together. No 8 year old wants to play with a toddler.

I'm the youngest of 5 and the oldest is 15 years older than me. My siblings and I might be very different people but we're still family and love each other. It's actually not that uncommon to have big gaps, especially if you had your first when you were very young.

I almost had a sibling at 17. Before that (and at present) I was an only child. It didn't end up happening though :/

My family has a 23 year age gap between oldest and youngest lol. 23brother),19(me), 17(brother), 11(sister), 7 months (sister)

My sister and I have a 6.5 year age difference, and it's actually kind of nice. She's 13, I'm nearly 20, and since I've moved out of my parents house we get along much better when she comes to visit me or when I come to visit and stay with them for a while, rather than when we were both in the same house 24/7. We are close enough in age to have stuff in common and we can always talk to each other/get advice on anything, but we do still fight and disagree. Just comes with being siblings. :P

i know someone who has a daugher who is the same age as me (18) and a toddler who is 2.

Can happen with menopause babies - woman's periods have stopped, she thinks she's finished menopause, surprise! And of course second (third, fourth...) families with a new partner.

#99, it's definitely not true that no older child wants to play with a toddler. One of my friends had her third child when her daughters were 7 and 12, and they're both crazy about their little brother. He's never left to play by himself at all

I had a friend I went to high school with whose older brother (not her oldest sibling) was in school with my mother, and her younger sister (not her youngest sibling) was in elementary school with my little brother. Her parents started having children really young, and just kinda didn't stop until her mother's body would no longer allow it.

even if there isn't such a big age difference doesn't guarantee that kids will get along. My mother had my siblings and I 3 1/2 to 4 years apart and we definitely don't get along very well.

Or perhaps this child doesn't live in a bubble inside his home. Also perhaps this child goes to school, talk to people, and hear/repeat things he is not supposed to. I would love to see you as a parent.

16, sometimes a child will test you by doing (or saying) something completely out of character or something that they know is really bad just to test the parent and see how they respond. How the parents react to his outburst is what defines them as good parents or not. He probably learnt this saying at school (through no fault of the parents) knows what he's saying is bad and too far, but is upset enough to try it and see what happens. If they discipline him properly than he will know for the next time exactly what is coming if he speaks/acts like that again and will probably think twice about behaving like that again.

PERHAPS

My brother and I are 14 years apart - I don't see the big deal. The only thing he apparently said when my mom told him I was coming was "aww do we have to watch Sesame Street again??"

Why would you be upset? Me and my siblings love that were much older then our youngest sister. 23(brother) 19(me) 17(brother) 11(sister) 7 months old (sister) Honestly I'm enjoying being a big sister this time around so much more as an adult then kid. I appreciate a lot more too.

It's called being considerate. Her son is just as much a member of the family as she is. Her decision to have another child means that he has to deal with a new baby too, and one that he clearly doesn't want at that. Unless she excuses him from all childcare related tasks and soundproofs the walls, he's stuck in a situation that he clearly wants no part of until he leaves the house.

@224 That is life. The big decisions are made by the people ultimately responsible for the family. I do think parents should care about how these decisions impact their other children, of course: there are very real issues at stake when those closest to you disagree so strongly with a decision, and that should not be taken lightly. But that doesn't mean children get anything resembling a veto, nor should they. It is one of the earliest and most important lessons you learn in life that you don't have control over many, very big things, and that you need to learn to live your life around them. I am not sure I want to meet and deal with someone who has never learned that particular life lesson, and, frankly, it sounds like one OPs son needs to learn.

What if the kid wasn't planned? Out of all of my siblings none of us were planned. That means none of us were consulted. Also why would a kid be consulted before the parents boned?

Yeah and how long ago were you a child? They're laws against "abusing" kids. And again SHE KNEW HE HADNT WANTED A SIBLING he was her first kid and she should have respected his wishes.

Are you retarded? A ******* ten year old doesn't decide whether or not his parents get to have another child. You sound like him, you idiot

@241, I hate doing this, but: 1) corporal punishment is not automatically child abuse. 2) you used "they're" (they are) rather than what I have to assume is the rare contraction "there're" (there are). 3) you used quotes around 'abusing' which denote sarcasm or irony or otherwise a verbatim quote rather than the emphasis that I assume you were attempting. 4) Using all caps is shouting when you use it for more than one word at a time, rather than implying emphasis. 5) you left out an apostrophe in "HADNT" 6) you executed a terrible run-on sentence in your final line And finally, 7) what planet did you grow up on where a family's life choices are dictated by a child by virtue of his being born first?

Wow #241: A child has absolutely no say in their parents sex life. It is pretty disturbing that you think they do.