Is there ever a "right" time to have children?
Posted on August 14 2012
Now that my older daughter is nearing 5 and my younger daughter is 3, people keep asking me whether I want to have more children. I honestly don't know. As an only child, I always dreamed of having a large family, but as an entrepreneur, I feel as if I'm raising 2 girls and a newborn again. It's incredible how much of one's time, energy, money, resources, and just plain self running a business requires.
When I watch my daughters play with one another and laugh uncontrollably, it melts my heart. What a special bond siblings have and how amazing to experience childhood alongside a sibling. As I mentioned earlier, I am an only child, because my mother had an ectopic pregnancy after having me and could not conceive after that. Although I never had siblings, I don't remember feeling lonely as a child.
One thing an older, and much wiser, friend told Mark and me after we got married was, "there's never a right time to have children." You will never have enough money, enough time and energy, a large enough house, etc. Once you become a parent, you become a survivor and figure it all out.
Anyway, I've been genuinely torn about whether I'm "ready" or truly wanting to have another child, but 4 weeks ago, I found out I was pregnant. Without getting into the details, we were genuinely puzzled by this "miracle." It took a full week for me to get over the shock, but we feel very blessed in so many ways.
Mark and I are looking forward to experiencing life as a family of 5! As soon as we learned we were expecting, Mark turned to me and said, "now you will have so much to blog about!" I just have to leave it at that . . .
21 comments
Congrats!!! Best of luck to you and your growing family!
Meredith, congrats on the launch of your business. Best of luck! It’s a bear, but so rewarding!
Congrats! I am a stay at home mom who is also launching a business. I completely understand about it feeling like an additional child!
I cannot tell u how excited I am.
Lauren…congrats to you too! Not sure how far along you are, but I hope you’re not too tired and nauseous!
congrats!
Congratulations mama! In the same boat with you…we were debating and decided to wait another year or two and see how we felt and the next week found out we were pregnant after the Dr said I might not be able to conceive at all again. I still feel like it’s so surreal :) So happy for you guys!
Thank you Jessica!
So true! Thanks for the encouraging words.
Congratulations! So many blessings in life come to us unexpectedly. Embrace it as the gift it is and see where it takes you. :)
~Erica
Calling all cars, calinlg all cars, we’re ready to make a deal.
Susan Johnson Posted on Rob such beautiful words about life as a new fahetr. It is truly a miracle. Each day will bring new joy. Please continue to keep us updated and love those pictures. You now see your EPIC kids in new eyes and will be on a new and different walk with them. Congrats again to both of you .Susan
It’s a pleasure to find soomene who can identify the issues so clearly
Congrats on your new arrival. Can’t wait tell for your cups to become available looking forward to buying a few of them for my boys (ages 1 &3)
Congrats!!! I can tell you two are already amazing parents…your new little one is so lucky to join such a wonderful family. I’ve been following your Lollacup journey ever since you started blogging about it. I finally have a chance to comment~ congrats on everything! =)
We don’t make cups for older kids . . . yet! Sorry :(
Hi my name is Meghan. I have 3 girls. One is 4, then 7, then I have a 13 year old girl, and she wanted a lollacup. So do u guys make cups of older kids? Oh and have fun with the new baby!!!
Kids grow up so fast, don’t they? Thanks for your comment.
Congrats on the new baby!! Mine are now 11, 22 and 27 years old. I only wished I had a wee one small enough to use your cups. With my 11 year old (my only son), I had the HARDEST time finding cups for him to wean him from the bottle.
aaaaand now I can add crying at work to my reusme Thanks for putting our friendship into such great context Jacquelyn! Few people get to experience the childhood that our neighborhood got to enjoy, and the friendships that were made. It is weird for me to see the name Ryan there as I think in the years he was here I called him Ryan maybe once, and Flood for everything! You have many gifts Jacquelyn, and being an amazing friend is one of your best! Love you!!!