Who will win the #living in the smallest apt "game"?

amother

Amaranthus

Thu, Jul 11 2024, 10:04 pm

3 kids, 2 small bedrooms, 1 bathroom, small living area. My oldest and my husband are miserable. It is hard that I can't invite guests for shabbos, which is a huge important need for me. We don't even have enough space at the table for all of us to eat dinner together comfortably. It really affects our shalom bayis and I daven every day for a better place. We have constant "traffic jams" in our narrow hallway.

amother

Tuberose

Thu, Jul 11 2024, 10:11 pm

Tiny 2br with 3 kids. It gets harder as the kids get bigger. It’s old with things constantly breaking, and many different bugs decorate our space. We’ve exterminated many times.
I am always throwing stuff out.
I storage almost nothing after the season is over. I only keep the things that will most likely fit someone next season.
I buy strictly only what we need.
I take pictures of crafts and throw them out after a few days.
Anything that’s torn, broken, or won’t serve a purpose within the next year (and this is only because of yomim tovim that roll around once a year and require special gear), gets thrown out or given away immediately.
We donated many toys no one was playing with.
I burnt our cds to the computer and dumped the cds. I gave away cookbooks I wasn’t using.
We storage extra paper goods on top of the kitchen cabinets.
We have no outdoor space which is really hard.
The kids room only fits two toddler beds in a specific layout. I don’t know what we will do when my oldest grows out of the toddler bed.
The baby needs to move out of our room but there isn’t anywhere to move to.
We desperately need another bathroom.

Here’s a list of things I am grateful for:
We have a decent kitchen with two sinks.
We have hot running water all the time.
We have a working toilet.
We have reliable electricity and ac/heat.
We have a nice big refrigerator and oven.
We have a washer/dryer in our apartment.
We have enough space for the little ones to play.
We have a roof over our heads.
We have our health, B”H.

amother

Navy

Thu, Jul 11 2024, 10:18 pm

1 bedroom (600sf) with 4 kids. Was able to do laundry reach the stove, open the fridge and wash my hands in the sink while sitting at the tiny table for 2 in the center of the tiny kitchen. The dining room was the all in one room where we ate, played and kids slept. In a Toddler bunk bed and pack play. We had 48 inch beds it was were we hung out with the kids when we needed space. All kids clothes in my dresser in my room all toys in the tiny linen closet or under the crib.
We had a minivan and I called out extension. We went out every Sunday and hung out in the mall or by grandparents. Good times! Bh we are past although I think that I my 1500 sf apt is a mansion

amother

Ballota

Thu, Jul 11 2024, 10:43 pm

700 square feet, two bedrooms, one tiny balcony - five kids. Kollel family in Jerusalem.

I absolutely LOVE my tiny apartment.

I love that at any time I could clean and tidy the whole thing properly in less than 4 hours.

Everything is nicely decorated and beautiful, well organized (when tidy), but we still have empty storage space because I try and be very minimalist. I don't like clutter at all.

My kitchen is so small - about 6 feet of counter space including the one sink - it means I have to keep it clean and tidy to function. On erev shabbos and yom tov it's like playing tetris to find space for things hot out of the oven, I'd say that's the only time I really feel it.

I love the idea of a big spacious home with a garden and kitchen with a table, but I also love our little warm, cosy space right now and don't feel I am missing out. It's an exact fit though, as our dining table only fits the seven of us - when we have guests we have to extend it to fill the whole room - so if iyH one day our family grows it will probably be time to move.

Comptroller

Fri, Jul 12 2024, 12:38 am

My grandparents lived with 5 children in 1 room, and with 8 children in 2.5 rooms. Rooms is counting the living room, not just the bedrooms. And they had no shower or bathtub, but a toilet. They would go to the public bath to take a shower, as was still done back then.

The parents and the baby would sleep in the bedroom, a few children shared the tiny bedroom, with a bunkbed, ad the other children slept in the living room.

They had virtually no private space for things they owned, and my father hated that.

amother

Brickred

Fri, Jul 12 2024, 10:56 am

amother Candycane wrote:

1 bedroom 1 bathroom, 770 sq ft (according to the ad)
1 toddler + 1 on the way
$2300/month

Lol "according to the ad" Laugh

Does it feel tight? Usually 770 would be a 2 bdrm, do you have an especially large bedroom and a separate dining/living room?
If not it's probably less

amother

Mocha ↓

Fri, Jul 12 2024, 11:25 am

amother Lightgray wrote:

6 kids, ages 16-newborn, (some teenagers) in a tiny 4 room apartment, 3rd floor, no hall, one bathroom, which is across the entrance. (This apartment is made for newly married couples). Several children have ADHD.
2 sleeping in our bedroom. One child, every time he gets angry, punches a hole from his room to the MBR! One child peels the paint from the walls when angry. One child wants some privacy, so he pulls a blanket across the bunk bed. One sleeping on a cot on the floor.
Though I saw someone with more kids, in a 2 bedroom apartment too.

Respectfully, what was your thought process when you decided to get pregnant with baby #6?

amother

Aquamarine ↓

Fri, Jul 12 2024, 11:27 am

I don’t know how you guys manage in such small apartments with a bunch of kids bh. I live in 1000 square-foot apartment(Pretty sure it’s 1000 ft.²) Or maybe it’s a bit smaller because if you look up where I live online says 2000 ft.² so I do not know if it’s for three floors divided or two floors not including the basement. (Live on one floor)

amother

↑ Mocha ↓

Fri, Jul 12 2024, 11:28 am

amother Aquamarine wrote:

Did you read the responses? Most are not managing.

amother

↑ Candycane

Fri, Jul 12 2024, 11:32 am

amother Brickred wrote:

Lol "according to the ad" Laugh

Does it feel tight? Usually 770 would be a 2 bdrm, do you have an especially large bedroom and a separate dining/living room?
If not it's probably less

We have a pretty large bedroom (which we split with a bookcase) and a bigger than expected kitchen

amother

↑ Hyssop

Fri, Jul 12 2024, 3:55 pm

amother Mocha wrote:

Respectfully, what was your thought process when you decided to get pregnant with baby #6?

I wonder how the kids feel when they have no space for themselves and then it gets even more crowded. Could be with the right attitude it's all good.

amother

Camellia

Fri, Jul 12 2024, 4:04 pm

amother Mocha wrote:

Respectfully, what was your thought process when you decided to get pregnant with baby #6?

You have no idea if #6 was a surprise, imposed by another due to a lack of a heter for BC, an empty feeling and desire to name after the loss of a parent…….

Don’t ask me why I only have 2 and don’t ask someone why they went and had #6

amother

↑ Mocha ↓

Fri, Jul 12 2024, 4:17 pm

amother Camellia wrote:

She has multiple children with ADHD, her children are punching holes in the walls and are clearly suffering, her living situation is obviously contributing to their dysfunction, her first priority needs to be to her living children and not the her hypothetical future children.

So you say number 6 was a mistake? What about number 5?

amother

↑ Mocha ↓

Fri, Jul 12 2024, 4:20 pm

amother Hyssop wrote:

I wonder how the kids feel when they have no space for themselves and then it gets even more crowded. Could be with the right attitude it's all good.

Perhaps with the “right attitude it’s possible it’s fine, but in her situation her kids are suffering greatly, that’s obvious just from the few sentences she posted.