Benefits

I did not plan to have nearly four years separate my two youngest children. Craig and I had planned to have our third child in the 2-year age span like with the first two kids.

The 2-year age gap was not to be with the third child, and as the months ticked by that I wasn't pregnant so the age gap crept ever greater.

I'd hoped that K and our third child would be close in age like M and K partly because M and K can often play the same games and do the same things. Their interests often are similar and their ages often allow them to be in the same activities. Like right now, they are in the cherub choir at church together. Next year, M will move to the next choir but they have this year together.

So when I finally got pregnant with Ms. D, I admit I worried a bit about the age gap. I'm sure that ages 2-3 will be a challenge because she'll want to do what her older siblings are doing but she just won't be old enough or big enough.

But I hadn't realized the real benefit of having older children when you have a new baby in the house. Miss M has been especially helpful with the baby, from singing to her in the car when she starts to cry to entertaining her while I'm in the shower, to getting D's toys for her to play with.

This weekend Miss M really showed how helpful she is and how much she loves her little sister. She changed D's diaper and got her dressed with only minimal help from me.

How cool is that?