Being An Only Child

Posted by jelly baby999 from Cardiff - Published on 17/04/2013 at 15:26
7 comments » - Tagged as People

Being an only child is not easy, I can assure you that. Having first-hand experience with being a sibling-less kid, I thought I'd share some things with you.

Contrary to common belief, not all only children are spoilt rotten. I am not spoilt, and nor are a lot of my friends who are only children. But, in some cases this is true. When parents make money, instead of sharing it and buying their multiple children belongings, that money tends to go to that one child. Obviously not all the money that parents make goes to buying something for a kid, but I think you all know what I mean.

Being an only child also means that you get all the love! Ha-ha, instead of parents sharing their time with all of their children, if you are an only child, you get showered with your mum and/or dad's love constantly!

One of the biggest downfalls of having no brothers or sisters whatsoever is that you can get pretty lonely. You don't learn what it's like to have a big brother to protect you, or a little sister who is obsessed with My Little Pony. You miss out on the arguments, the friendships... etc. A lot of only children would give anything to have a brother or sister, but at the same time, kids who do have siblings would do anything to get rid of them!

Being an only child can however be quite useful. It teaches you to be more independent and more of an individual, but you lose out on developing your social skills. You are guaranteed to have arguments with siblings every now and again, so when you fall out with people, it tends to be slightly easier. But when you have nobody to practice with, having arguments with friends can seem a lot more serious than it actually is.

Being an only child brings you closer to your parents, since you spend a lot more time with them. You tend to have a more mature attitude, but be quite sensitive too. Many only children have very good self-control and are quite achievement-orientated. However, they can be quite unforgiving and demanding, which is not always the best of qualities.

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MeicCymru

Photo Credit: pellethepoet

7 Comments – Post a comment

Sam Sprout (Editor)

Commented 37 months ago - 17th April 2013 - 15:25pm

As a fellow only child, I very much agree with what you say and never really thought that my sensitivity was down to not having anyone to practice arguing with! Good point!

I must say that I've never wanted to have a sibling and I'm still left baffled by people asking if I miss not having one, how could I possibly know for a start? Hey, if it's good enough for China...

b00kw0rm99

Commented 37 months ago - 17th April 2013 - 15:55pm

I am not an only child and I would never wish away my two older brothers. Whenever I have an argument with a friend at school, the younger of the two brothers (in sixth form, the other is in his second year at uni) talks to me about it on the bus home. I say to him "have I done anything wrong?" tell him what happened and always his answer is "no". It is so reassuring having brothers - I can learn from their mistakes and they help me learn from mine. They are so funny, always being sarcastic and mean to me, but not really mean. "Family love" I call it, haha. I know that they always love me at heart, even if I have to ask permission to hug them!

b00kw0rm99

Commented 37 months ago - 17th April 2013 - 18:15pm

See, what just happened then is an example of why I would never get rid of either of my brothers. My brother is back from uni for a little bit and he was just teaching me the "flaily arm" dance move. I love them so much!!!!

JustNotNormal

Commented 37 months ago - 17th April 2013 - 19:34pm

I think having a sibling who is more than 2 years older or younger than you is better than having a 1 or 2 year gap, as I hate my sister (she's 2 years younger) but I have friends with a bigger gap between them and their siblings who get along really well.