Biggest jump

One of the most frequent questions I get asked (besides are these all yours? And don't you know what causes this? Lol!!!) is: "What was the hardest jump for you guys? Going from 0-1 kids, 1-2, 2-3 or 3-4?" 

Everyone says something different. "Oh zero to one was definitely the hardest for me." "My friend says after 3 you don't even know the difference so 3 must be the hardest." And on and on. 

After thinking about this and experiencing the last year of my life I now have a formula to determine the biggest jump. It's super scientific. Lol. I have tested it out on some of my more veteran mom friends and it holds up. This information may already be out there, I really don't know. But it's fun to talk about. 

So here is how you determine the biggest and hardest jump of children raising. It really depends on a few factors. I have narrowed it down to three.

Factor 1: the temperament of the child. It will come as no surprise but the easier the baby's temperament is the easier of a transition it will be for the parents. 

Factor 2: life changes. Have you had any major life changes: move, job change, death in the family, divorce in the family, medical crisis, etc...? 

Factor 3: support system. How much support do you have? Physically is someone there to help? Emotionally? Spiritually?

So with these in mind I will tell you the "easiest" and "biggest" jump for us. I have those in quotations because let's face it being responsible for the mental, physical, emotional and spiritual well-being of another human is going to be hard. Always. Lol. But the transition and adjustment to caring for those children can vary!

So our easiest by far was going from 2-3 children. Colt had a very easy personality. He was happy go lucky and didn't put up much of a fuss for me as a general rule. We were in a really stable spot. Dan was in the same job he had been in for a while and we had no major life changes going on (besides the birth of Colt). And we had developed a very strong community. I cannot tell you how many people brought us food after Colt was born. It was such a blessing! I had friends pop over to help when I had nursing issues with him. I felt so taken care of! Dan and I would say without a hesitation going from 2-3 felt like a breeze. But we were ideal in all the categories I had mentioned!

The biggest jump by FAR was going from 3-4 children for us. Max had (let's face it, has) a very stubborn and strong willed personality. He was a very demanding baby and cried and screamed a lot. We had a huge move and Max had some health issues. So some major life changes. Also, with the move we lost our support system. I had very little help. 

So when people ask me I say 3 to 4 is the hardest. But now you know why! And maybe it makes sense when someone says 0-1 was the hardest for them. The more struggles in the three areas you have the harder the jump is going to be! 

So do you agree with my "science"? :)

Tell me your hardest jump!