I was reading a message board thread on BabyCenter.com yesterday (how I got down that rabbit hole, I have no idea) about how people can afford a third child and one of the responders said something to the effect of…

When you have two kids and they are fighting, you then have to manage two whining kids. When there are three, most of the time two kids are happily playing together and one is left out. It’s less being outnumbered, more a levelling of the playing field. 

This perspective absolutely blew. my. mind.

It’s so true! I remember from my own childhood having an older brother and a younger sister. We would either all play together or play in a pair, with one person doing their own thing. Lots of times my sister and I would play and my brother would do his own thing. There were plenty of times when my brother and sister wrestled while I turned the family bookcase into a library.

Now if we can just win the lottery, we can start talking about that third kid…