I have a 7yo and can't imagine having only child between 1- 4yo during this time. Yes my DC is perfectly happy playing video games all day but it would be healthier to play outside in yard with sibling. He also plays with neighbor friend but they prefer gaming too since they are not spending days and hours together.. they are plotting on a moving/merging into one of houses currently!

Anonymous wrote:my 3 year old only child is doing fine. Why are you worried about it OP? You don't have an only.

Haha, I love that OPs trolly post has been swamped with stories of happy onlies.

Anonymous wrote:I was thanking my lucky stars I have an only child right now. Couldn’t imagine wfh with two little ones!!

Then this morning I got a positive hpt. Hopefully I will be back at work long before this next one comes because I don’t want to be doing this with two!!!!

Hey, congrats!

I think only children would actually fair the best in this situation ... they are a lot more independent. I find it odd that OP is worrying about this when she has 3 kids to care for.

My 5 is doing great - loving playing mine craft, lots of new learning apps, board games with me, lunch together and then hike or scooter. He's doing great and it is super easy, so please don't worry about us OP.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My 4 and a half year old is definitely missing her friends, she's a total extrovert. We've set up a lot of video chats with her buddies and I'm trying you play with her a lot but also encouraged her to play solo. I am currently 31 weeks pregnant and it's just rough because I'm exhausted and irritable all the time

I’m right there with you. My 4 year old is an extrovert and is driving me insane! She needs constant attention and always wants a play mate. I am also 11 weeks pregnant and in the thick of the exhaustion and nausea. I’m not feeling this whole thing and have no idea how I will do this and work for another month +.

Same boat, pregnant in second trimester and have a 3 year old who requires constant supervision unless she’s watching a movie or Tv. This is just hard trying to work with me and DH trying to negotiate all our various calls along with having a bunch of colleagues who don’t have kids and are trying to produce low value work and generate email traffic to provide value/activity for very little real benefit.

DS11 is fine. We read, play games, and watch TV together. Do school work. Lots of online gaming, then he rides scooter or bike outside where there are lots of other kids. They are allowed to ride bikes together as long as nobody gets off the bikes and they don't touch each other.

I have a 4 year old only, and am grateful we don't also have a younger one to deal with now. But, I wouldn't mind an older one to play with him! It has been hard, he misses his friends and really cant/wont play alone. But it's so much better than I imagine it would be with a baby or toddler in the picture as well.

Anonymous wrote:My 4 and a half year old is definitely missing her friends, she's a total extrovert. We've set up a lot of video chats with her buddies and I'm trying you play with her a lot but also encouraged her to play solo. I am currently 31 weeks pregnant and it's just rough because I'm exhausted and irritable all the time

I’m right there with you. My 4 year old is an extrovert and is driving me insane! She needs constant attention and always wants a play mate. I am also 11 weeks pregnant and in the thick of the exhaustion and nausea. I’m not feeling this whole thing and have no idea how I will do this and work for another month +.

I was thanking my lucky stars I have an only child right now. Couldn’t imagine wfh with two little ones!!

Then this morning I got a positive hpt. Hopefully I will be back at work long before this next one comes because I don’t want to be doing this with two!!!!

My 8yo is pretty content so far. I asked her yesterday whether she's missing her friends, and she basically shrugged. She's on a pretty detailed schedule while we're working, and is playing with our dog in between--as a PP said, she's happy as a clam.

Today she finished morning distance learning assignments, helped walked the dog, did an exercise routine, watched an educational animal video, and is folding her laundry. Tonight we'll be sticking to our usual Friday movie night.

I'm getting somewhat stressed with telework, and both spouse and I are busy dealing with coronavirus-related fires at work (healthcare). But for now, kid is pretty happy.

DS is 8 and has been doing pretty well so far. I set up a checklist of things he needs to do each day before he can play video games or watch TV. Some days he does it all quickly, and some days it takes him longer. We walk the dog every morning and sometimes his friends are outside so we stop to chat (we stay on the sidewalk, they are on their front porch), but he seems pretty happy so far. We are doing a Zoom with a lot of his friends this afternoon, so we'll see how that goes. He sees kids playing together outside and at the playground and has asked why they're doing that since that isn't safe, so I've had to repeat the "different households, different rules" thing a lot.

He's pretty independent, but when he wants to play outside he asks me or DH to play with him. We play horse or throw a baseball or a football around right behind our house. It's a nice break and gets me outside more so I don't mind. I need to figure out what gaming systems his friends have so he can play games with them on chat. We have the Switch, but I didn't realize how terrible for chatting it is. I may splurge and buy him a different one so that he can connect with friends more often that way.

Anonymous wrote:

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

ha ha, you wish!

+1. Ha, yep. We have an only due to infertility, but let me tell you, parenting one is a million times easier than more than one. That is one major silver lining of having an only not by choice - easy, mostly stress free parenting.

my 3 year old only child is doing fine. Why are you worried about it OP? You don't have an only.

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

ha ha, you wish!