Spacing

I sometimes get comments from people about the spacing of my children. Generally the comments are negative, in the "they're so far apart they'll never have a relationship" vein. They aren't THAT far apart! There are four years between the first two and three years between the others. This does make for 11 years between the first and last, which, if they were the only two, might make a relationship difficult. But, honestly? I wouldn't change the spacing for anything! Really. I got to have time with each child before the next one came along. They got to be the baby for several years. I wouldn't trade that. Ever. Has it been challenging? Of course. But not in the way it is challenging for a mom with two very close together. My challenges didn't come so much with the kids as with their activities. My challenges came in that I had an 11 year old playing football and a brand new baby. So she went to her first football game at a week old or so. She was at the kids school at 5 days old. There was no seclusion for us. Ever. The two youngest, but especially the Princess, spent a lot of their baby time in the car.
Things are sometimes difficult in the field of entertainment in that what the 16 year old can see/do, the 4 year old can't. But, thinking about that, even if they were all 2 years apart? Then it would be a 16 year old and an 10 year old. They still would not be able/wanting to do the same things. I don't see much of a difference there.
I didn't start out to write about this though. I really wanted to write about the relationship between my oldest and youngest. Because I ALWAYS get comments about them and how they will barely know each other. How wrong my critics are. The teenager was in the delivery room when the Princess was born. He is her biggest fan and vice-versa. I think she is the reason he held it together during the really challenging years. He adores her and she him. Yesterday at the dentist, when she was scared? He's the one she wanted. When she's feeling left out or sad or mad at me? It's him she runs to. Today when she wanted to dance and the music was over and the other kids wanted to move on? He took her into his room and played guitar for her so she could dance. Things may change a bit if he moves out in a few years, but I think they have a pretty firm foundation to build on.