bojanglefunk
Well-known member
For us, we wanted them to be close so they could grow up together. Our first two were born exactly 20 months apart. We're trying to adopt now and hoping to have a newborn that is within 24 months of when our daughter was born, but that's not something we have a lot of control over.
Your parents were early 30's and you had friends with parents 15 years older? So your friends' parents were in their late 40's when they had kids? Wow.
Some of it depends on where you grew up. I have "young" parents (they had me in their mid 20's) and young grandparents (in their mid 70's), but I grew up in a rural area and I'm the first in my line to go to college. My grandmother was married as a high school senior when my grandfather came home for a weekend from his posting in the military. She finished out the year as valedictorian and then moved to TX to be with him a few days later. My parents knew each other in high school and were married at 20. I had my first kid at 28, so I'll be "relatively" young compared to a lot of the parents of my kids' friends now that its becoming more typical to have kids well into your mid/late 30's.
I, personally, look forward to being a younger father to my kids, as I have a lot of good memories of being able to play ball and hang out with my dad that many of my friends with older parents don't have. I also look forward to being a younger grandfather in retirement, so my hope is that my kids won't necessarily wait a long time to start a family either. The move towards having kids later and later is, unfortunately I think, taking away some of the influence of older and wiser generations. I'm very thankful to have not only known, but to have known for many years of my life, all of my grandparents, and 5 of my great-grandparents. To this day, 3 of my grandparents are still alive and kicking and a part of my childrens' lives.
Well people are also living longer. I was born while my parents were in their 30s (33 to be exact) and I still have three grandparents who are all relatively healthy.