Only children during quarantine- how is it going?

[Anonymous]

My 13 year old extrovert DS is doing surprisingly well. He has a standing daily video game play date (oh, sorry, “hang out”) with his buddies over Skype. He watches way too much YouTube. We go for family hikes and play ball, and he says that makes him happy, which is very sweet for a teen boy. He is planning on making a whole-house Rube Goldberg machine this weekend. Don’t know about that...

[Anonymous]

3 year old is doing okay. Fortunately, the weather is nice so he's mostly content to ride is scooter up and down the driveway, play in the back yard, and having a picnic for lunch was the most exciting thing this week.

Also caved in and allowed some extra TV time. Vintage Thomas and Friends--George Carlin narrates!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
I am only child who for some time lived a weird life without socialization due to my mother’s mental illness.

I read all day. I am now EXTREMELY well read!

Woah, same here pp. I thought I was unique but I guess not!

I am an only child and a good reader. No mental illness in the family, but it came in useful for road trips.

One hidden benefit of being an only is that your parents have to talk to and entertain you more (rather than leaving you to play with your sibling) so you get a more sophisticated vocabulary and grammar.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Anyone who says it’s easier to have one kid than two is a fool.

I promise you I am no fool. My son is 7 and my daughter is 20 months. Hell yes it was easier having one child! A hundred times easier in every way.

[Anonymous]

My 7yo only is fine so far. It’s only been a week though. We have been doing some homeschooling and a lot of outside time. She FaceTimed with her bestie this evening for the first time. She’s pretty good at amusing herself. I made a point of not giving into screens when we’re busy so she’s forced to find something to do. I’m not anti screen but I do think there are ways of kids having down time without it, there’s too much reliance on it imo.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I cannot imagine how only children are doing during social quarantine right now. Especially younger ones who can’t be entertained with a device or themselves. My two are 3 and 5 and are playing together non-stop both inside and outside in the back yard. We are working and taking care of a newborn as well. I am not sure what I would do if I had to entertain them non stop as well.

I feel bad for your first two. You are focusing on work and the baby and aren't spending time with them. How sad you don't know how to entertain your kids. Maybe now would be a good time.

Mine is doing great. Her school started distance learning on Monday. She has been “in class” all week. One of her teachers had a show and tell where everyone could introduce their pets. She has been FaceTiming with friends and using google meet for them all to “hang out.” We have a home gym so she is doing an hour of exercise daily and doing all her school work.

[Anonymous]

My 15 year old is doing good. Doing the same thing she would do on the weekend - facetime friends, chat, listening to music. During the day she has been doing some school assignments and in the evenings we are binging on shows.

[Anonymous]

My boys, 5 and 3, fight constantly. And the fight about everything.

Having just one child to deal with sounds like a dream to me.

[Anonymous]

Wow, I have an only and I’m in a couple only child Facebook groups and everyone is miserable.

[Anonymous]

I have an extroverted 10 year old athlete. He’d be happy to play video games chatting online with his friends all day. We’re homeschooling 1st half of the day and then being liberal with screen/video game time. The trouble is getting him outside to play. He doesn’t appreciate the athletic ability of his old parents, misses playing sports with his friends/team mates and gets bored easily with us. Still, weather permitting, we make it happen. Trying to keep him in shape for when soccer resumes and preserve some of his brain cells. He doesn’t face time with friends well. Oddly, they have nothing to talk about. Same kids can talk trash for hours on a basketball court or playing a video game.

[Anonymous]

My 10 year old is doing ok. She’s thrilled at being able to sleep in later and being able to watch tv during the week.
We are doing academics in morning and she FaceTimes with several friends in the afternoon. After dinner, we’ve been walking the dog while she rides her scooter.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Wow, I have an only and I’m in a couple only child Facebook groups and everyone is miserable.

How sad for you and those families? Maybe it is them and has nothing to do with an only. We're doing great.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Wow, I have an only and I’m in a couple only child Facebook groups and everyone is miserable.

How sad for you and those families? Maybe it is them and has nothing to do with an only. We're doing great.

+1. I wonder if the types of people that join only child support groups are the ones that are not happy having an only (e.g., maybe they wanted more but had fertility issues).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Wow, I have an only and I’m in a couple only child Facebook groups and everyone is miserable.

How sad for you and those families? Maybe it is them and has nothing to do with an only. We're doing great.

I'm in those groups and it's a mix - some people saying their only is perfectly happy, some saying they're grateful they only have one to take care of/entertain/worry about, some saying their onelies are lonely and miserable. I'm noticing some that had onelines by choice that are saying they feel guilty because they didn't factor a pandemic into whether their only would have playmates without siblings. But everyone is overthinking everything right now, and that feels more like anxiety speaking than actually regretting life choices.

The kids will be fine. Everyone will get lonely, stir crazy, bored, etc. We'll make it through whether we remember it being lonely, a 24/7 fight to the death with siblings, or a pinterest perfect break from reality.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Wow, I have an only and I’m in a couple only child Facebook groups and everyone is miserable.

How sad for you and those families? Maybe it is them and has nothing to do with an only. We're doing great.

+1. I wonder if the types of people that join only child support groups are the ones that are not happy having an only (e.g., maybe they wanted more but had fertility issues).

P.S. I know a mom at my kid's school that talks about having an only child as if it's a disability. She's the only one--I know lots of other families with families and it seems to be not that big of a deal for most of us. Many are traveling abroad and doing other kinda cool things that would be difficult to do at our kids' ages with more than one.

As for me, it's stressful enough trying to work and homeschool with one (although my kid seems to be enjoying herself)--I take off my hat to parents who are trying to manage with two or more right now!