Anyone interested in an only child support group?

Not at all!

I am the only of an only and my daughter is my only child.

I feel we are all quite bright, happy, well adjusted and I loved being an only child as did my daughter.

Onlies are creative, resilient, have strong leadship qualities, are genuine and self confident and, all in all, I hold onlies in high regard.

All the myths are complete B.S.

I have always been very generous, very comfortable with people of all kinds and extremely content to amuse myself if need be.

Onlies rock!

We are truly an army of one!

I’m an only child and I haven’t noticed any gaps in my family at all. In fact, I think I had an advantage in that my mother was able to devote all of her time and attention to me.

Being an only child is stressful for you in some way? Your parents were theoretically able to provide you with the best possible care instead of dividing it up amongst 5 other children. What’s to complain about?

I have a sister, but our age gap is so great that I often feel like an only child. We have different fathers as well, so I’m sure that factors into it – we lack half of the family bonds other siblings share.

@tigress3681 Look at it like this: would you like to go to school with your friends, where you can socialize and enjoy each others company, tell jokes, etc., OR would you prefer to have a personal tutor? You might get more attention one on one, but that doesn’t mean you’re necessarily getting more out of it or that your educational experience is somehow superior.

True but school is publicly funded and a different subject. Tutoring though provides support to what I said. Say the parents can afford to pay for 5 hours of tutoring (same concept for food quality, quality time, etc). Divide 5 hours of tutoring by 5 kids = 1 hour per kid vs 5 hours of tutoring by 1 kid = 5 hours for one kid.

My point was that socializing with others in your peer group is an important part of growing up that can’t be compensated strictly by good parenting.

@FutureMemory You are sooo right! Care to clarify how that relates to single children though, I am just not seeing the relationship.

I’m an only in the practical sense of the word. I have a half-brother, but didn’t meet him – or even know about him – until I was 18, let alone grow up with him. As a kid, I didn’t feel any ill effects from being an only, but as an adult I do envy my friend’s close connections to their siblings. That’s a feeling I’ll never know. I don’t feel like it’s a serious lack in my life though… just a nice thing others have that I don’t. I’m sure some of them envy my freedom from family.

And some of us that have sibs don’t have that lovely rosy relationship with them. I noticed that as @KatawaGrey was growing up she didn’t develop the emotional callous to deal with teasing that people with sibs do, but conversely she was more compassionate with her peers, never having learned the art of snarky meanness at home. Of course, not all sibs are like that, I envy the people that are very close with theirs, but there are definitely pros and cons to all types of family dynamics. When an Only feels isolated, there’s way more to it than simply a lack of sibs.

I am an only child and have mostly enjoyed it. I would guess that my few issues with it are no more or worse than the ones other children had with their siblings over the years.

@kbugRN : I just realized that no one is actually helping you here (myself included), sorry. Hopefully this Q will be noticed by those that feel the way you do and you guys can help each other out.
Welcome to Fluther!

And, don’t forget, much of the whole family fantasy scene is just that! lol

I have many friends who are not at all close with their siblings, if not entirely disassociated with them.

Romanticizing having siblings is akin to romanticizing romance in general, rarely is the luster as lusterous as one imagines. lol

well thanks for the answers and perhaps it is just me. i have my family-husband and my 3 children but then nothing else. my dad has passed away and my mom and i don’t have the best relationship and she lives out of state. i just wish i had siblings to share the experience of my childhood with. i also talk to lots of my friends who spend there holidays with their families and siblings. My own mom has a close relationship with her 3 siblings, talks to them daily and they support each other when times are tough. I just don’t have that and i figured there would be other people in the same situation.

@kbugRN I think of my friends as my chosen family. FWIW, I don’t speak to my mother at all, so I do understand where you’re coming from.

Kbug…I understand where you are coming from. I am an adult only and miss having sibling relationships. It was not that bad growing up as there were many children around in my family. However, now that we have grown up, we are not as close as we used to be. I cannot say that I have a friend that could take the place of having a sibling. There are many things I probably could have learned if I had a sibling. I do not blame my parents because they tried to have more children but could not.

I totally get this question and I noticed your post under the characteristics of an only child. I completely understand what you’re saying. I was raised by my mother after my parents were divorced when I was very young. My father was not physically involved in my life (he would write and send gifts sometimes) until I was out of high school and from then on I saw him every couple of years. My mother passed away in 2009 and even though my husband has a huge family who I get along with and love very much, I feel this deep loneliness. My father passed away 18 months later and I feel lonely. My daughter is an only child also and I hope that the fact that she has lots of cousins, uncles and aunts from her dad’s side keeps her from feeling this way.