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[quote=Anonymous]Echoing what a lot of others have said, OP. I have an only by choice.

In the case of our family, we love having one and find it to be the perfect arrangement for us. I have one sibling with whom I am close, my husband has 3 siblings who aren't particularly close or reliable. You never know what you'll get with siblings, even with the best intentions.

We felt some social pressure when our dd was the same age as your child - that's when all of her peers started getting little brothers and sisters and we were suddenly the odd ones out for "only" having one.

In our case we've lucked out with having great local friends and a great community of friends through her school, some of whom are like family from each of these groups. Will those friends help her figure out my nursing home? I don't know, probably not - but raising a socially happy kid surrounded by support feels like we're setting her up for a lifetime of building a good support network for herself.

In addition to having an only child, we also live pretty far from either side of the family and do holidays here at home, sharing each of them with good friends who are in the same boat. While it's not what either DH or I were raised with, it's been a happy experience that we think will continue to work for us. And one thing I've noticed about dd is that even though she's as shy as I was, her needing to connect with others outside of home has made her really good at making good friendships in spite of her shyness and I'm so glad she's having a hugely easier time of that than I did, with my built-in network of sibling and dozens of cousins I didn't work that hard at connecting with others in school and was often the odd one out.

That's all to say - join the club and enjoy your only! [/quote]

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