I consider myself an introvert, and I'm having a hard time deciding how many children I want. I like the idea of having a large family, but at the same time, I need my alone time. I'm curious to hear from other introverts. How many children do you want/have, and why? Do you think being introverted affected your decision?
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I am also an introvert. I'm 38 weeks with my third. I find that my children and husband don't drain me as much as being around other people. I do think that I value my kids' naps and quiet times a LOT because it allows me to recharge, but again, have found that my kids aren't as big of a strain on me as some people are despite the fact that they are toddlers and crazy.
We will probably eventually have 4 or 5 because we desire a larger family.
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@coopsmama: ditto. I'm exhausted, because toddlers are exhausting, but I don't find interacting with my children (and husband) to be mentally taxing like with others.
So to answer question, it didn't affect how many kids I will have - stopping at 2 for other reasons.
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I think of myself as an introvert and I agree, spending time with my family doesn't exhaust me. In fact I find having a family great as an introvert because I can use them as an excuse to not do social things.
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I'm an introvert and we want three (we have two right now). I taught pre-k for 5 years, so I'm used to having lots of little kids running around and like others have mentioned, my own kids don't drain me as much. I definitely do need my alone time, but my time during naps/after they go to bed works for me!
Also, my 2.5 year old is so social that it has kinda forced me to be less of an introvert. He talks to everyone!
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I am a definite introvert and I think having kids has only had a positive effect on that. I just don't need as much alone time and because of them I have become so much more social. I am so my happier now than before kids. We are expecting our third and probably last but I would be open to a fourth. I guess since I find being around my kids and other moms so much easier that I am happy with a lot of kids. Especially since the more we have the longer I don't have to work! I found being "on" at work to be the worst kind of hell so I guess that is the biggest way that being an introvert affects the number of kids I want.
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Same as the PPs! My husband and kids don't bring out the introvert in me like just about everyone else. I like the idea of a large family, if we don't have any more kids it'll be for other reasons (logistics, finances...)
It did occur to me the other day that I might want to not have any more kids because more kids = more birthdays where I have to entertain extended family
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This is an interesting question! I'm a huge introvert, but we've always envisioned having a large family. My husband definitely doesn't drain me like everyone else does, but I still need a bit of me time sometimes. I'm curious to see how it goes with kids!
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I'm an introvert and never really thought about it in the context of family plans. I'm the oldest of six and love my big family. The reason DH and I would not have more than two is mostly due to what we feel we can handle financially and our goals as a family etc.
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I am definitely an introvert, and we have 2 sons now. I would love to have 1-2 more kids.
While other people drain me, my own kids energize me. I mean, yes, they're exhausting, but not in the same way as being around other people.
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We have 2 with 1 on the way. As others have mentioned, I definitely value my alone time in the morning before they wake up, during naptime, and we have them go to bed early(ish) so that we get some downtime at night too. I haven't found my introverted-ness to be an issue outside of that!
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DH and I are both introverts; we plan to be done with 2.
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We have one with one on the way. I'd like three but we are stopping at two.
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DH and I are both introverts and we were planning to be one and done. However baby is already such a social butterfly that I'm starting to rethink!
One of the reasons I married my husband is that he's the first person I've found who I can stand to be around for hours and days at a time. I was concerned that I would find spending so much time with my little one draining, but it's quite the opposite. Also, he is such a charmer in public that he is opening me up to be more social as well.
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I am an introvert and we currently have two. We are talking about adding a 3rd via adoption in a few years. The way we handle my introversion, both our high sleep needs, and my husband's long work hours is by having our kids on a schedule, working on their independent play skills, and using childcare/sitters liberally.
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My husband and I are both introverts, and we have a very talkative, engaging, curious 4 old daughter. And she exhausts us. That's the hardest part of being a stay at home parent, for me, is that she just wants to talk to me every single second of the day. I just cannot provide the social interaction she clearly needs - so we're all much happier when she's in summer camp, preschool, whatever. She'll start kindergarten in the fall, and I think she's really going to thrive there.
Parenting as an introvert can be really hard. We have another daughter who just turned one, and two children is plenty for us. I'm really eager for the day that they can talk to each other.
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This is an interesting thread! I'm an introvert but I've never considered time with my husband to be draining. We are planning on a big family (3-5 kids). I've always wanted a chaotic and happy household. My husband and I actually have very similar images of our ideal future - we know we'll never be wealthy or have a flashy lifestyle, but we both want a bunch of kids.
Lately I've been wondering about fostering. I'm worried I'm not extroverted enough to really reach and relate to a kid I don't know, or a kid with potential problems. I'm thinking I'll have two or three and revisit fostering.
My 1-year-old is super extroverted right now, it'll be interesting to see how she develops as she grows. She's not shy or timid. She walks right up to other kids and plays (as much as a baby can). She's still really young so I'd love for her to keep this openness for awhile longer.
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I come from a big family so I always wanted 3-4 kids. We will probably only have 2-3 based on financial realities. I didn't really think about the fact that I'm an introvert when coming to those decisions.
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Unlike most PPs, I am likely one and done partly because of my introversion. I love my kid and my husband, but I do get drained with them as much as I do with other people, and I'm just now (kiddo is 3) feeling like I'm getting a bit of time to breathe and recharge. I also don't have any itching for more kids, tbh, so it might be biological and social, since I have a bunch of one and done friends (most of whom are extroverts, ironically).
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@coopsmama: Same here. I get really exhausted being around people a lot, but I don't mind my daughter's company and her need to be touching me at all times. We are gonna stop at 2 because we would prefer an even number of kids and 4 would be financially irresponsible for us at this point.
We will probably eventually have 4 or 5 because we desire a larger family.
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