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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]My best friend has an only child. She may not notice it because this is her only frame of reference but her son is self centered and unable to deal with any compromise relating to his desires. I have 5 children that share, laugh, fight, compromise, apologize and are incredibly loyal to one another. When we are gone they will have each other’s backs and that is priceless.[/quote]

1. You don’t know what your kids’ relationships will be like as adults. I hope they get along, but many, many people do not get along with their siblings as adults.

2. [b]Kids can be self-centered in sibling situations just as easily as in one-kid situations. Don’t generalize[/b].

[/quote]

This. We have many friends with multiple kids. Some of their kids are great, some are not. We know one family in particular with three kids, and their oldest is a spoiled brat. We had them over for a party last year and he walked up to me and told me our party wasn't fun for him because we didn't have any of the cool stuff his friend's families have (he goes to a private and many of his friends are from very wealthy families). And he's 9, so well past the age where that kind of behavior is more acceptable because kids need to learn basic manners.

The truth is, most of the "pitfalls" of only children can be addressed by thoughtful parenting, just as the same is true with multiple kids. If you don't set limits for kids, they don't learn to accept them. If you don't reinforce manners and kindness and empathy, they don't develop them. Siblings are not some magic bullet that will solve parenting for you. You still have to... be a parent.[/quote]

+1,000

My SIL has four kids and some of them are spoiled brats and completely self-centered. All of them would have been better off as only children. [/quote]

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