Friday, March 4, 2011

The only child debate!

We have an adorable (almost 4 month old) baby boy that is getting better at sitting up (and smiling for the camera):




And well, for some reason we were just hypothesizing into the future about when/if we would have another baby.  Well, my grandparents raised me and I was an only child and I turned out A-okay, right? 

So we decided that the positives for having an only child are:
1. no sibling rivalry/unnecessary competitiveness (where's mine syndrome that some people never seem to outgrow)
2.  being able to focus all of our time/effort on one child (not having to juggle events or see one child's activity/recital, etc.)
3.  the financial aspect (not as big of a deal, money's only money in the end)
4. the whole "only child" snobby/bossy/spoiled brat syndrome isn't really true anymore, since more and more parents end up either spoiling both children or the baby of the family (research it)  and
5. only being pregnant once (yes selfish, I wasn't the biggest fan and I didn't even have a hard pregnancy, labor was a whole different story, but I guess the second time would have to be better than my first experience)

On the other hand, looking back on my childhood, I liked being an only child, but even though I had a lot of friends growing up and I played in lots of sports and socialized a lot, I still didn't have anyone to play pranks on or play around with late at night on a consistent basis or someone to team up with or someone just to think of fun things to do around the house.  Or on vacations, it was just me sometimes, but my parents would usually let me bring a friend.  Travis definitely wants Tristan to have a sibling and I am trying to get used to the idea that one day we would have another baby again.  It's a lot to be in school, teach, attempt to get your research done for your thesis, keep up the house and get groceries and be a mom at the same time, so there won't be a second baby anytime soon.  But I do want Tristan to have someone else to play with, someone else to bond with and hopefully make memories with throughout his childhood.  And just like being around a baby was new for both of us as neither of us ever grew up around babies, so will adjusting to life with another baby, but hey, we can do anything :)  Especially with God being as good as He is. 

p.s. I know we can't plan out everything obsessively and I'm working on "letting go" of always wanting life planned out 100%, so please bear with me :)

1 comment:

  1. I missed this before somehow. But just so you know, you're not alone. I think about this ALL THE TIME!! I definitely want to have more kids, but it is so weird having been an only child to think of Liora not being the center of attention and having to share her toys and stuff like that. And I kind of liked being pregnant, but birth...not so much. I don't really want to choose to go through that again. However, enough time has gone by now where it finally doesn't seem that bad. It was only one day out of my life and was completely worth it. Anyhoo, now that we've decided to have one I think every day about when. How far apart should they be in age, what month should the baby be born in. There are so many pros and cons to everything I can't make up my mind. Yes, I, like you, should probably just let it go. :-) Thanks for sharing.

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