Please let me shamelessly brag here: I am so happy I only have 1 child!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I keep forgetting how expensive it is with 2+.
Told my friend about a cheap camp for spring break - she reminded me she had to pay a lot for 2 kids.
Now I see a topic where parents won’t shell out money for assigned seats on airplane because the family is so large.
It is so, so easy to have only one, especially when they are 9+ yo.
I might of course get my karma when he is a teen but for now I just enjoy it so much.
Thank you for listening! I can’t say that in real life as my friends all have 2.

I'm glad you're happy, but it seems weird to focus on the money. I doubt on your deathbed you will care at all about how much money you saved on camps and airline seats.

And the only child will have to deal with aging parents and death and probate on their own.

OP here - it scares me, I hope assisted suicide is legal in 40 years!
At least I will try to stay healthy, put my ducks in a row etc
I have a sibling and highly disfunctional parents; if they weren’t so crazy it would be easy for me to care for them alone.
My goal is to not be crazy!!!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I keep forgetting how expensive it is with 2+.
Told my friend about a cheap camp for spring break - she reminded me she had to pay a lot for 2 kids.
Now I see a topic where parents won’t shell out money for assigned seats on airplane because the family is so large.
It is so, so easy to have only one, especially when they are 9+ yo.
I might of course get my karma when he is a teen but for now I just enjoy it so much.
Thank you for listening! I can’t say that in real life as my friends all have 2.

I'm glad you're happy, but it seems weird to focus on the money. I doubt on your deathbed you will care at all about how much money you saved on camps and airline seats.

And the only child will have to deal with aging parents and death and probate on their own.

That's what I always think when I meet families with one child. Sucks for that kid to have to shoulder aging parent issues alone.

Hopefully, we'll be a lot better off financially and can afford elder care provided by specialists so we don't have to burden our kid.

[Anonymous]

I mean...odd flex, OP. But ok.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'm happy for you, OP, if you are in fact happy. But honestly, your post strikes me as someone who has continuously tried to justify her decision to have one child (to herself and others) and secretly is worried she should have had more. Ticking off monetary reasons is just strange.

I have asked myself that, and no.
I Mean, maybe I want to live in fantasyland, have a millionaire husband who cares for 5 kids and just hop around without worries... but this is a fairy tale.
So no, I am happy as it is.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I keep forgetting how expensive it is with 2+.
Told my friend about a cheap camp for spring break - she reminded me she had to pay a lot for 2 kids.
Now I see a topic where parents won’t shell out money for assigned seats on airplane because the family is so large.
It is so, so easy to have only one, especially when they are 9+ yo.
I might of course get my karma when he is a teen but for now I just enjoy it so much.
Thank you for listening! I can’t say that in real life as my friends all have 2.

I'm glad you're happy, but it seems weird to focus on the money. I doubt on your deathbed you will care at all about how much money you saved on camps and airline seats.

And the only child will have to deal with aging parents and death and probate on their own.

That's what I always think when I meet families with one child. Sucks for that kid to have to shoulder aging parent issues alone.

Hopefully, we'll be a lot better off financially and can afford elder care provided by specialists so we don't have to burden our kid.

It’s not just elder care. It’s the stress and grief. My siblings and I debriefed daily when our mom was battling cancer and passed away. And now we’re struggling with comforting our dad. He doesn’t need elder care, he just needs company. Plus, emptying and selling a house, planning a funeral, etc. Siblings help you get through these things. And they help by simply having a shared history and memories. Family is typically a good thing.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I mean...odd flex, OP. But ok.

LOL yep.

[Anonymous]

Whatever makes you feel better about your decisions, OP!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I keep forgetting how expensive it is with 2+.
Told my friend about a cheap camp for spring break - she reminded me she had to pay a lot for 2 kids.
Now I see a topic where parents won’t shell out money for assigned seats on airplane because the family is so large.
It is so, so easy to have only one, especially when they are 9+ yo.
I might of course get my karma when he is a teen but for now I just enjoy it so much.
Thank you for listening! I can’t say that in real life as my friends all have 2.

I'm glad you're happy, but it seems weird to focus on the money. I doubt on your deathbed you will care at all about how much money you saved on camps and airline seats.

And the only child will have to deal with aging parents and death and probate on their own.

That's what I always think when I meet families with one child. Sucks for that kid to have to shoulder aging parent issues alone.

Hopefully, we'll be a lot better off financially and can afford elder care provided by specialists so we don't have to burden our kid.

It’s not just elder care. It’s the stress and grief. My siblings and I debriefed daily when our mom was battling cancer and passed away. And now we’re struggling with comforting our dad. He doesn’t need elder care, he just needs company. Plus, emptying and selling a house, planning a funeral, etc. Siblings help you get through these things. And they help by simply having a shared history and memories. Family is typically a good thing.

exactly. it's not necessarily about having someone to wipe your ass or feed you soup. It's about having family. It's just harder on singles.

[Anonymous]

Op here - talking about old age makes me think about my parents...
my brother and I live far far away from them.
It is hard to find them continuous care because they are so weird that people don’t want to deal with them.
It’s hard to help them because they sabotage any effort.
They are also poor and hoarders.
It would not help them if they had 5 kids, even that wouldn’t be enough to help them.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Op here - talking about old age makes me think about my parents...
my brother and I live far far away from them.
It is hard to find them continuous care because they are so weird that people don’t want to deal with them.
It’s hard to help them because they sabotage any effort.
They are also poor and hoarders.
It would not help them if they had 5 kids, even that wouldn’t be enough to help them.

OK....

[Anonymous]

OP again- I think it’s important to be a normal sane person and have a good relationship with your children, no matter how many (of course there are cases when kids are not the people you can be close to, but in general).

I also think playing together is a bit overrated. People grow up and have friends of their own so it all evens out.

I am glad I have my brother to discuss the crazies that my parents are but if they were normal, we would have much less to talk about tbh.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Op here - talking about old age makes me think about my parents...
my brother and I live far far away from them.
It is hard to find them continuous care because they are so weird that people don’t want to deal with them.
It’s hard to help them because they sabotage any effort.
They are also poor and hoarders.
It would not help them if they had 5 kids, even that wouldn’t be enough to help them.

OK....

This is to say that numbers alone aren’t enough

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I keep forgetting how expensive it is with 2+.
Told my friend about a cheap camp for spring break - she reminded me she had to pay a lot for 2 kids.
Now I see a topic where parents won’t shell out money for assigned seats on airplane because the family is so large.
It is so, so easy to have only one, especially when they are 9+ yo.
I might of course get my karma when he is a teen but for now I just enjoy it so much.
Thank you for listening! I can’t say that in real life as my friends all have 2.

I'm glad you're happy, but it seems weird to focus on the money. I doubt on your deathbed you will care at all about how much money you saved on camps and airline seats.

And the only child will have to deal with aging parents and death and probate on their own.

That's what I always think when I meet families with one child. Sucks for that kid to have to shoulder aging parent issues alone.

Hopefully, we'll be a lot better off financially and can afford elder care provided by specialists so we don't have to burden our kid.

It’s not just elder care. It’s the stress and grief. My siblings and I debriefed daily when our mom was battling cancer and passed away. And now we’re struggling with comforting our dad. He doesn’t need elder care, he just needs company. Plus, emptying and selling a house, planning a funeral, etc. Siblings help you get through these things. And they help by simply having a shared history and memories. Family is typically a good thing.

On the other hand, my uncle died young and my mom was left alone to deal with her parents...

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I keep forgetting how expensive it is with 2+.
Told my friend about a cheap camp for spring break - she reminded me she had to pay a lot for 2 kids.
Now I see a topic where parents won’t shell out money for assigned seats on airplane because the family is so large.
It is so, so easy to have only one, especially when they are 9+ yo.
I might of course get my karma when he is a teen but for now I just enjoy it so much.
Thank you for listening! I can’t say that in real life as my friends all have 2.

Are you married or a single parent?

Separated, and happy about it

Sorry for your kid. It is not fun to be from a broken home.

And I am sorry for yours, it’s not fun to have an unkind parent

+1. That is so mean! And I am sure it’s terrible to grow up without ever learning how to be kind and compassionate

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I keep forgetting how expensive it is with 2+.
Told my friend about a cheap camp for spring break - she reminded me she had to pay a lot for 2 kids.
Now I see a topic where parents won’t shell out money for assigned seats on airplane because the family is so large.
It is so, so easy to have only one, especially when they are 9+ yo.
I might of course get my karma when he is a teen but for now I just enjoy it so much.
Thank you for listening! I can’t say that in real life as my friends all have 2.

I'm glad you're happy, but it seems weird to focus on the money. I doubt on your deathbed you will care at all about how much money you saved on camps and airline seats.

And the only child will have to deal with aging parents and death and probate on their own.

That's what I always think when I meet families with one child. Sucks for that kid to have to shoulder aging parent issues alone.

Hopefully, we'll be a lot better off financially and can afford elder care provided by specialists so we don't have to burden our kid.

It’s not just elder care. It’s the stress and grief. My siblings and I debriefed daily when our mom was battling cancer and passed away. And now we’re struggling with comforting our dad. He doesn’t need elder care, he just needs company. Plus, emptying and selling a house, planning a funeral, etc. Siblings help you get through these things. And they help by simply having a shared history and memories. Family is typically a good thing.

exactly. it's not necessarily about having someone to wipe your ass or feed you soup. It's about having family. It's just harder on singles.

eh, it often works out that one sibling takes on the brunt of eldercare while the others do very little to help out and/or, worse, second guess everything.

If you've got that kind of family dynamic where all of the siblings are functional adults who pull together and work well as a team - great. It sometimes does not work out that way, though.