Kids v living space

joe stodge

Just been talking to a neighbour, she is pregnant with her 4th child which is fantastic news for her and her husband.
They have 3 boys already, but they live in a 2 bed apartment, which they own.

I live in a similar sized apartment with 2 kids and find it a bit tight at times. Me and the wife have discussed having more kids but have decided to hold off, I just couldn't imagine 6 people in a 2 bed apartment long term.

What are other peoples opinions on this?

mad muffin

We live in a three bed semi. Our neighbour has 4 kids under 5 :eek:

We have one child and I feel he's taken over the house with all his stuff. Can't imagine living here with three more younger than him.

Fat Christy

joe stodge wrote: »

Just been talking to a neighbour, she is pregnant with her 4th child which is fantastic news for her and her husband.
They have 3 boys already, but they live in a 2 bed apartment, which they own.

I live in a similar sized apartment with 2 kids and find it a bit tight at times. Me and the wife have discussed having more kids but have decided to hold off, I just couldn't imagine 6 people in a 2 bed apartment long term.

What are other peoples opinions on this?

I couldn't imagine having one kid in an apartment tbh..

Cantremember

Thinly veiled thread.

CrazyRabbit

In a house, there's always the attic and the shed in the back garden. Didn't do me any harm sleeping in them. Just make sure they bring their invisible tiger to protect them.

seventeen sheep

We have one child in a three-bed house, and we're overcrowded.

But that's entirely down to my hoarder boyfriend. He has so much stuff!!

I happily lived in houseshares for a decade, where all of my worldly belongings very happily fitted into one room, with very little clutter or mess.

When I moved in with him, we had to get a house rather than an apartment, because he had so much crap to bring with him.

Having said that, kids do need some space. I wouldn't like to put more than two children sharing the same room, so if I had four kids, I'd probably need at least a three-bed apartment.

I'd always always choose an apartment over a house, though. I guess it shows how much I care about my boyfriend ... that I'm choosing living in a big crappy house with him and his mess, rather than living in a neat clean cheaper little apartment without him!

joe stodge

Cantremember wrote: »

Thinly veiled thread.

Explain?

I have a three bed apartment which I rent out. It's big, as big (square footage wise) as my first 3 bed end of terrace house. It still felt cramped in comparison when I lived there. However, there was a family living in one of the one bed apartments, at last count there was two adults, three kids, and a bump. That's my idea of hell. I don't think a house would ever be too big for me, I love space, love it. And I say that as someone who grew up in what can only be described as a wendy house.

Cantremember

joe stodge wrote: »

Explain?

>invalid command syntax

The_Valeyard

People manage. Sure how many of our parents and grandparents had 10+ kids in families and lived in small houses.

Satriale

My grandparents had 9 kids in a 2 bedroomed house. my father in law had either 13 (maybe 14) brothers and sisters(bit bigger house though). All turned out fine.
Might be something to do with a lack of playstations and that they were out working as soon as they were capable.

SEPT 23 1989

Kids need a garden

UCDVet

Maybe I'm old (or maybe my parents were crazy) - but I remember homes being very different than we think of them now. As a child I was either sleeping, at school, or outside. And I didn't need my own bedroom (I was happy when I was upgraded to my own bed). I slept with my siblings. How much space does a sleeping child really need?

On most days, when the weather was nice, we were *expected* to be outside. We'd come in for meals. We'd go to school, of course, and if we wanted to quietly read or study inside, sure we could. If we wanted to help with housework or cooking, we could do that inside. Otherwise, it was outside, until it was dark. And it's a big world, so we had plenty of space.

I dunno, it never seemed like a problem. Sure you had to wait your turn for the bathroom (we only had *one* for the six of us), so you made a schedule, oldest to youngest and got ready each morning.

I know so many people who bought very expensive houses, and sure, they're nice houses, fair play to them. But a lot of times it seems silly to me. My sister has a study in her home. I just can't fathom anyone studying so much that they think to themselves, 'Wow, I really need a room where I can go to study.' My nephew is 8, and he has his own bathroom, complete with shower and tub.

Sure, it's nice if you can afford it. But a lot of people are killing themselves trying to afford it (and just barely managing). The truth is, whatever you've got, you get used to. Your kids would enjoy their own bathrooms, for about a week, until they got used to it. Then they'd just be the same as they always were.

JuliusCaesar

Yes, more possessions so you need a bigger house. Then you fill that, so you build an extension. Then that gets filled, so you upgrade to a bigger house. Then the cycle repeats until you die, your kids say who the hell wants all this crap and throw it out.


Look how few sockets there are in old houses that haven't been done up! One per bedroom! Two in the living room!

anncoates

joe stodge wrote: »

Explain?

Topic of large families especially in restricted circumstances = soft bowl

AH = Bat



We've 2 kids in a 3 bed house nearly under 1200 square foot and to be honest I couldn't imagine more in here. That said, my parents brought 3 kids up in a house about 900 and it seemed fine to us at the time.

For Forks Sake

When I were young, there were two hundred and fifty of us living in shoebox in't middle of road.

AndonHandon

Your neighbours have been careless by having more children while restricting themselves to such small living quarters. Very careless.

Kevin McCloud

If people got rid of all the stuff and clutter they have they would have plenty space. Attics and rooms full of crap that they never again use. Economise.

anncoates

SEPT 23 1989 wrote: »

Kids need a garden

They don't really. Ours completely ignored ours the minute they were old enough to play outside on the street/green. It's usually parents who are the ones that really want the garden.

starlit

One to two kids be ok but more than that, you be caught for space. You'd need a house even if it were a small town house have a bit more space/room for more kids. There was a program on tv3 last week about a family that had 10 kids with the 11th on the way. They lived in a small enough house but they managed to fit the kids in with a few in each bedroom. Mostly boys and one girl, the last born number 11 was a girl they just showed that clip at the end.

Woshy

We just moved from a 2 bed apartment to a 3 bed semi-detached house (but quite a small one). We only have one child but we love the extra space (even though our apartment was actually quite big compared to some others). The square footage isn't much more but having a separate upstairs and downstairs as well as a garden, attic and shed is great. Baby number 2 is on the way so we're extra glad of the additional space.

Personally I wouldn't fancy having more than one in an apartment but on the other hand, if you've no choice then I think you'll manage fine. People used to have 8+ kids in little terraced houses and it didn't do any harm long term!

Satriale

For Forks Sake wrote: »

When I were young, there were two hundred and fifty of us living in shoebox in't middle of road.