There are four years between Benjamin and Molly. Part planned on our part and part nature with its own ideas!

Although four years is not a big age gap in some peoples’ eyes, it is often a conversation I find myself part of, with opinions both for and against.
I had a chance to reflect on this over a very quiet family weekend when I had the luxury of giving both children a lot of time. (Often weekends can be spent entertaining, cleaning, ironing etc and can go past in a blur!)

Watching my 15 month old toddle around the house like a wobbly Bambi seems even more endearing when compared to my confident, athletic five year old. His toys are her toys and both can play in the same space as if the other is not there! On occasion Molly will ‘spoil’ Ben’s activity or Ben will suddenly decide that only what she has to play with will do and more often than not tears follow.

Molly is fiercely independent and very vocal. I often wonder if this is due to the gender difference, but for the last 15 months she has had the added benefit of watching her older brother. Suffering from ‘second child syndrome’, Molly has not been to the run of baby swim, gym or yoga classes that Benjamin had but instead she experiences time with her sibling and all that comes with it –something that Ben didn’t have.

The age gap can make certain activities as a family totally impossible. On Saturday we had to split up as Ben wanted to see the latest movie release which of course Molly would not sit through! But she got time with Dad at a ball park while I enjoyed the delights of High School Musical 3. It is great going out with Benjamin without the constraints of a pushchair, nappy bag and change of clothes! Instead I get constant conversation, pester power at its best and always a fun memory!

For me, the age gap has meant that I have been able to return to work between having the two of them, without having the added expense of both of them at nursery at the same time. Plus I have never had the wish to be free of nappies –as four years on, it’s all become a novelty again!

In our house no two weeks are ever the same so we try to manage our hectic schedules on a week-by-week basis – with the aim of getting through the week as best as we can! It is always a careful juggling act of completing the daily school and nursery runs, remembering school timetables and extra curricular activities, and – when the kids are dealt with – getting ourselves to work. There’s no time for either of us to get sick, which happened this week when I came down with a migraine.

There is nothing quite like trying to function in the morning – getting two children dressed, fed and out of the door – when all you want to do is go back to bed! I don’t know how I did it but I managed to drop Ben with a friend to be taken the rest of the way to school, and then delivered Molly safely to nursery. After stopping to get some medicine on the way home I retreated to bed.

At the end of the day I had to rely on a good friend (yet again!) to get Ben to and from his gym club. Being ill also meant that I was unable to do a quick shop – we were short of food in the house and Ben needed a pair of dressing up glasses for his Harry Potter fancy dress costume (for Book Week at school the kids had to come dressed as their favourite character – in the end two pipe cleaners did the trick!).

Being sick didn’t just affect the kids, when you work a reduced week being ill makes it even more difficult. I have enough work to do in 4 days without missing a day through illness, so it was pretty full on when I got back in the office.

Despite this there were a couple of proud moments for me this week – Molly has started to walk unaided with confidence and Ben was awarded player of the day at his Saturday morning football… so it wasn’t such a bad week after all!

Benjamin in his Harry Potter costume ready for book week at school: