I am 19 years old and an only child, but, for the greater majority of my life, I’ve wished I wasn’t. You see, I feel like there is a common misconception that only children are spoiled and get to do whatever they want, and never have to think about anyone but themselves. And the thing is...people actually envy that. They think life would be so much better sometimes if they just didn’t have that annoying little brother who always barges into their room, or that needy little sister who always wants to tag along. However, I am writing to tell you that, although there are definitely some positives to being an only child (like being spoiled, duh), it really isn’t as great as it is hyped up to be.

You know that family trip that you go on every year? You know, the really fun one that your parents plan, like, way too far in advance so they can get the best deal on airplane tickets? See, I have those too, but instead of it being a big family affair, it's just me and my dad, or just me and my mom. As a kid, it was easy to make friends on these kinds of trips; you just look for the boy or girl who is willing to run around the resort 15 times and have cannonball contests in the pool.

But, as you get older, it's not as easy. It’s a little awkward to go up to random people and ask them to hang out because they’re probably either with their significant others having "bonding time," with their families having “family time," or they’re already with their friends. And I don’t know if you’ve ever tried to join an already formed 19-year-old girl clique (aka cult), but I just really wouldn’t recommend it. So there you have it--back to square one, just you and the parents.

I don’t want you to get the wrong idea and start to think that I have had some horrible life that's been completely robbed of companionship, because that’s definitely not the case. Not having any siblings just makes it that much more important to have a solid group of friends, which, luckily, I've always had.

The hard part is when your friends aren’t around, like when you were younger and wanted to turn the house upside down looking for your Christmas presents…not as fun without a partner in crime. Or, when you're out to dinner with your whole family, but all the adults won't stop talking about boring adult things like politics and the economy, and you just really want a sister to talk about the raging party that you’re going to go to after the dang dinner is done.

I could go on and on about how great it can be to not have any siblings, too: no hand-me-downs, lots of new things, enough attention to last a life time. But, honestly, I would trade it all (don’t hold me to this) to have grown up with a sibling--someone who could have taught me all of those things I really didn't want to ask my parents about, who could have been there on those long nights when I felt like nothing in life was going right.

Although the window of opportunity for my parents to give me a brother or sister has long passed, at least they got the idea that I always really wanted one, and got me a dog to compensate.