To still think it's tricky with my two kids (3 and 1). I thought it's supposed to 'get easier'?!

[Heynowheynow]

The only thing that's changed I think is my tolerance and ability to deal with stress. I still find days alone with them so, so hard and I respect SAHMs of little ones of this age so much.

How is everyone else finding it with this age group?

Mine are now 4 and 2. DD1 is absolutely no bother at all but DD2 can be a bit ahem challenging a holy bloody terror That first year or so was bloody awful and I wouldn't do it again for all the tea in China or some other such twee saying.
In some respects it has got easier as DD2 can communicate more easily but now the tantrums have started.. Some days I wish I was a wine in the evening drinker.

It's all good fun though isn't it? Isn't it? And in 5 years time we'll look at some mother with her 2 littleuns and wish ours were that age again. Just like with childbirth, mothers forget the deranged stage I'm sure.

Another with 2 year gap (22 months to be exact). Also found 3 and 1 to be most difficult stage. Once Dd2 hit 2 it got much easier. Now at 10 and 12, they have been best of buddies with 8 years. If one is away on play date, the other is lost until her sister returns.

(But I have to say while they are best buddies most of the time, there are daily disagreements, and they know how to wind each other up something wicket!)

3 and 1 was the hardest. It started improving when youngest was 2.5ish. They are 5 and 7 now and are more rewarding than ever. It does get better, honest!

4 and 2 here (21 month gap) it's certainly got easier with the youngest being able to communicate, however we still have daily (hourly) fights over toys and over games that are not going DD1 way! I'm still exhausted despite them both now regularly sleeping through the night. No more kids for me.. definitely!

Mine are 6 and 4 and it really does get easier...but 1 and 3 was still difficult. Taking them anywhere was more like herding sheep, trying to keep your hands on both of them and make sure they both go the same way.

You're on the final stretch though op, as soon as the eldest is in school you'll really start to notice a difference :)

the moment you get into the car and realise all of your kids can do up their own seatbelts is when you're officially out of the worst part

The joy of your youngest being able to do up their seatbelt is massively underrated. Mine even open the back doors, get in, and close it behind them now...pure bliss!

Oh God! Someone mentioned the first year. Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha!

Well given I had to see a psychiatrist when they were approx 6mo and just gone 2 that'll give you an idea of what mine was like with the two of them. Unravelled.

Like another said - not for all the tea in China.

But...I absolutely agree although my sanity wouldn't take having another child so quickly (or perhaps ever again) I still, weirdly, feel wistful when other pregnancies are announced. And I'm sure when when we're past this will look on with fond memories when I see other newer mums going through the storm.

Mine are 2 and 4 and just this week for the first time I realised it had all gone quiet and looked to see them sitting under the kitchen table together playing nicely and chatting. For 15 whole minutes! It was bliss. Hopefully that will happen more and more as they get older. Still hard work but we're getting there.

It gets a bit easier when the younger one potty trains and can start to do things for themselves- feeding themselves, start assisting with dressing themselves, walking instead of being in the carrier/pushchair and when they can start playing properly alongside the older one rather than just destroying everything .

It does get better as the years go by. I had three in two and a half years, they're now two, three and four. It's still not without its difficulties but it's SOOO much easier now the elder two are potty trained, they can all walk upstairs unassisted, the elder two dress themselves, all sit at the table and feed themselves properly and right now I'm sipping a coffee whilst they all draw pictures together. It's lovely at times!

4 and 6 is fantastic. If we hadn't had another baby, life would be very straightforward!

Its getting much much nicer here nowy boys are 4 and 22 months. Heading towards 2 in January and already its easier to go out, I can trust the 3yr old a little bit, ds2 is a bit more independent now, hes willing to walk around places, im not forever restraining him etc. Thank god.

Ds wants a 3rd though. Nooooooooo.....

Mine are 4 and 3!
4 year old at full time school now.
But honestly I still dread the weekend! Everything is a battle, with constant arguing and fighting!
I thought it would be easier by now.

Oh and I'm 31 weeks with number 3! What am I thinking?!

You are in worst age for tiredness and stress I think.

When mine were 3 and 1 we had just recently moved house into a revocation project, new area, no kitchen, noise, dust, no family help....bleak times.

Mine are now 9 and 7 and much much easier. I think it began to get better when youngest dc started nursery at 3. Sorry if that sounds ages away! Things change slowly week on week without you noticing. I still feel very tired and worn out, however I am 10 years older, dealing with homework, after school activities/appointments, tweenage attitudes, peer group pressure and my own work commitments. However, day to day grind it is less relentless and I do have frequent moments to myself.

My days had grown up dcs now and she promised me I would have parts if my life back one day - as my dd woke up at 10am this morning and is shuffling around the house with headphones on I think she's right

My dsis

Here's some stuff that happens when they are 5 and 7 (which is how old mine are). Okay so it might not be the same for everyone but here's how it works for me:

This morning, I was asleep in bed, youngest child asked me to wipe her bum, I muttered something about her doing it herself now and she did! So I went back to sleep! (I know she can do it because she does it at school)

That's another thing, this might not happen to everybody but if I'm asleep in the morning when they get up, they don't necessarily wake me up. They play in their rooms. Or they come into my bed and turn on CBBC. I don't think I woke up properly till after 10am this morning . Whereas when one of them is still one you have to do that get them a drink the instant they wake up thing and go straight downstairs and start the day - sod that that is a distant memory

If they want a drink, they can get themselves a glass of water, or wait for me to do it and they can have squash. They don't melt down about having to wait. When I do make it, its a regular pint glass with a straw, not a silly plastic cup which topples easy or a silly tommee tippee which you have to faff around with with younger ones. Yes, just a regular lovely pint glass that goes in the dishwasher and takes them ages to drink so I'm not constantly making drinks.

If they are hungry they grab a banana or something from the fruit bowl. (Okay so there are banana skins everywhere but we are working on that)

When I got up this morning they were both dressed in vaguely acceptable outfits. I'm not sure if my 7 year old has worn anything other than his minecraft hoody for the past 3 weekends so I must ensure that goes in the wash.

Its raining outside and my husband is away this weekend so I booked tickets to Dude where's my Donkey which will suffice for this afternoon's entertainment. At 5 and 7 they will both sit through that and I can zone out for a couple of hours. Afterwards, we might go to a restaurant, where no high chairs will be needed.

Tomorrow is Monday, after peeling them out of bed and throwing their uniform at them, they will be gone for the best part of 6 hours. 6 HOURS! And they will do that for the following 4 DAYS AS WELL TILL ITS THE WEEKEND AGAIN! I don't work so I then drive home and drink coffee in bed and watch daytime TV and faff around preening. This is PROGRESS.

Now they are older I can cook one dinner, which everyone eats, and they can wait till their father is home from work so we can all eat together. So I'm not doing 2 separate dinner services. Yeah baby! Living the dream!

Couldn't be arsed to empty the dishwasher before so asked DD if she wanted to be Mummy's little angel, which she did, and duped her into doing it! RESULT!

Bedtime is not some long drawn out affair. They can now put their PJ's on, and play quietly upstairs for a bit until we come and kiss them goodnight, or watch Strictly or something with us until we send them up. They do some reading during the week but other than that its pretty painless. Okay so they don't necessarily go straight to sleep but they don't get up either, you just hear them crashing around a bit until it all goes quiet.

That's all I can think of at the moment but it wont be long till you are at this stage!!!

Oh and I had to share this - my friend has a 10 year old who has NO TOYS ANYMORE. He has an Xbox and an iPod and he reads books. That's it. There is not a single piece of fluorescent plastic tat in her living room! With my 7 year old I am actually starting to see a big thinning down of general crap!

3.5 and 2 years old here. I had 1 year of hell when the oldest was 2 and youngest 6 months. It gradually has got much less hellish over the last 6 months. It is still hard, but such a vast improvement on 6 months ago, now that they can play together for 15 mins or so, and i no longer have to firefight constantly all day from 5am to 9pm with no break. Now when DS maps, DD will quietly play in her room for at least 20 mins, so i even get a break in the day. There is light at the end of the tunnel, and i only see it getting easier now...till the are teenagers!