Most of my friends and people I've met at college have been amazed to know that I am an only child.. which is strange because it's more common than you would think. But yes, I did not grow up with siblings. And a lot of people are very sympathetic for me. Honestly, though, I see both sides to it. Growing up, it was great, but not great. There's a lot of pros and cons to not having any brothers or sisters, specifically the ones I'm about to talk about. And for my fellow loner children out there, you'll understand just what I'm talking about. For those with siblings, this is what is was like, on both the positive and negative side of being an only child:
Pros:
1) I was spoiled rotten. And no, not in the way you're thinking. I mean, yes, I did receive many gifts as a child and I loved (at least I think I did) everything my parents gave me. But in this case, I'm talking about just receiving attention from my parents. They loved spoiling me with love and playfulness all the time. It was great growing up. There was always a positive atmosphere in my house between me and my parents.
2) I hogged all the attention. This goes back to being spoiled rotten. Being an only child, I literally got all of the attention in my house. There was only me as a youngster to focus on. And it wasn't hard to pay attention to me because, not to toot my own horn, but I was a pretty cute baby. I just received every ounce of love from my parents, there was no one I had to share it with.
3) I have an amazing relationship with my parents. I love my parents to the moon and back. Only being a three-person family, it was easy to be more intimate with my parents. I can literally tell them anything and have their support for everything that I do. Now, I'm sure that it can be the same way for families with a bigger number, but for me, having 3 people in the family was just so much better.
4) My friends are my family, too. Since I don't have any siblings to hang out with at home, I have tons of friends I can call as my own family. My friends are amazing and I love being their sister in Christ and talking to them everyday. Even my roommates I consider my sisters.
Cons:
1) It got lonely. I always had to have babysitters over the summer to watch me because everyone else that lived in our home was at work, aka my parents. And my dogs couldn't take care of me.. I had no one to play with, no one to play sports or dress up with, no one to talk to other than people outside of my family. It kind of sucked.
2) There was no one to look up to/be a role model to. This one kind of speaks for itself. I didn't have any older siblings to go to for advice or support. I didn't have any younger siblings to be a role model for a look after or protect.
3) I heard all these stories from friends who have siblings that made me jealous. It sounds crazy, but I loved hearing sibling stories from my friends. They were always funny or weird or even stupid, but it was nice seeing my friends enjoy the company of their brother or sister. And to be honest, I would have loved to have a sibling to bicker with and annoy my parents by doing so.
All in all, it can go both ways for different people. I know people who wish they had siblings and are always glad they don't have siblings as well as people who have siblings that love them or hate them. Sometimes I go back and forth between how I feel, but at the end of the day, I'm thankful for the little family that I have today with my parents and all of my friends, and I don't take that for granted. Much love fam.
