[pixelatedindex]

How much space do you really need to raise a child? I’m genuinely curious because Americans act like you need a mansion to raise kids.

A 3 bed with 1K sq ft still gives you like a 10x10 room - more than enough space for a crib and a queen bed. And you have two other bedrooms to spare. As they get older and need space to run around and stuff, there’s no shortage of parks / trails / fields.

[disgruntledphd2]

> How much space do you really need to raise a child?

It definitely depends on climate. I live in Ireland (in a relatively small house in the suburbs) and in the summer, there's absolutely no problem as we can take the kids out pretty regularly. However, in the winter when it's dark at 5pm and wet and windy, I definitely feel like we don't have enough space.

I do think the US houses seem absurdly large to me, but then lots of the more recent houses built in ireland are of a similar size.

[red-iron-pine]

i'm in a city in Canada and it's -18C today.

plenty of kids playing outside, just heavily bundled and for short stints.

and we still have 3rd Places nearby, like community centers

[disgruntledphd2]

Yeah, the cold would bother me less than the rain and darkness, tbh.

> for short stints.

This is the issue though, we have a 2.5 year old who's just super active, and it's much easier to tire him out when the weather is better and there's more light. Like, right now in Ireland it's still completely dark by 5.30 which means it's hard to tire him out in the winter.

> and we still have 3rd Places nearby, like community centers

That's cool, we have those too but they're mostly kid friendly in the mornings and afternoons and used for adult stuff in the evenings.