Warning: Space children far apart!

My kids are 1 year and 25 days apart. There are times (usually few and far between) when they can play together and be just fine, then there are times when they are like a cat and a dog fighting each other. It is absolutely ridiculous how much they fight. I would like to take their heads and smash them into each other sometimes. I wouldn't, but I would like to. I wonder how they would get along if they weren't so close in age. Would the older one be a little more willing to protect the younger one, or would he still be mean and nasty most of the time? Would either one of them care that they are making me nuts? Probably not.

Most people think that kids that close in age always have a built in playmate. And when they were younger that was true. But now that one is in middle school, while the other is still in elementary; one is very aware of what others think of him, while the other really doesn't care; one thinks he is 17, while the other thinks he's 7....I could go on and on but I'll stop, and just finish this up by saying, plan out how far apart your kids will be, it just might save you from the bottle of Xanax!!!