As Kimbofo noted in comments, there is something of a baby boom occurring here in Victoria and the Kitchen Hand extended family is a major contributor.
In reality, it is the second such boom in my family. My mother has thirteen grandchildren, with two on the way (my younger sister is expecting at around the same time as T.). While four of these grandchildren were born since 2001, the first five were born in the seven years prior to 1981. Then, over the next twenty years, there was an average of only one every five years. Essentially, the older children in my family had their own children early; while the younger three waited until their thirties and forties, mirroring current societal trends. As the middle child of seven, I typically followed both patterns, not being able to decide which half I belonged to; and became a father in 1977 and 1980 (I was 19 and 22) and now again in my late forties.
Complicating the issue (well certainly at Christmastime) is that the older grandchildren have themselves started having children - my mother now has six great-grandchildren. Further, until 2003, when my grandfather died the week before Christmas, my own son's first two girls were themselves great-great-grandchildren; making me that fairly unique species, a grandfather with a grandfather. For seven years we were blessed with five generations on earth at the same time.
I think I need a rest now. It was exhausting figuring all that out.
In reality, it is the second such boom in my family. My mother has thirteen grandchildren, with two on the way (my younger sister is expecting at around the same time as T.). While four of these grandchildren were born since 2001, the first five were born in the seven years prior to 1981. Then, over the next twenty years, there was an average of only one every five years. Essentially, the older children in my family had their own children early; while the younger three waited until their thirties and forties, mirroring current societal trends. As the middle child of seven, I typically followed both patterns, not being able to decide which half I belonged to; and became a father in 1977 and 1980 (I was 19 and 22) and now again in my late forties.
Complicating the issue (well certainly at Christmastime) is that the older grandchildren have themselves started having children - my mother now has six great-grandchildren. Further, until 2003, when my grandfather died the week before Christmas, my own son's first two girls were themselves great-great-grandchildren; making me that fairly unique species, a grandfather with a grandfather. For seven years we were blessed with five generations on earth at the same time.
I think I need a rest now. It was exhausting figuring all that out.
I am exhausted trying to figure all that out too! This is the kind of post that could benefit from a diagram, a cobbled-together family tree perhaps?
ReplyDeleteIt would look a bit like Barry Jones' notorious Knowledge Nation diagram, Kimbofo!
ReplyDeleteThe only regret I have about having grandchildren is that my parents didn't live to see them, or to be great-grand parents. They had children late, and although I did my part by starting at 19, my own children waited into their thirties, giving the generations a stretch.
ReplyDelete