I have 4. New teen to toddler, all boys. It seems like yesterday I was changing my teen's diaper...hmm, that sounded better in my head...you know what I mean. Thankfully we do a number of things together so the bond stays somewhat strong. My wife homeschools the boys and she often has days where everything seems to be going wrong. Boys having attitude problems? Who would've thunk it? After dealing with kids she just needs a release and that's where friends are important. You don't need a lot of them but, like you said, they should be quality people that can relate.