I’m a fan of celebrating the good and bad aspects of everything. (That’s why I ask you all for your good AND bad news when I do Twitter check-ins.) It’s wonderful to celebrate the good, but the bad is just as important. Both shape us. So, I’m introducing a new series to my blog, “3 Best, 3 Worst,” that will address the rich duality of a specific topic. This is really just a creative writing exercise for me, but maybe you’ll all enjoy it too!
Since it’s Mother’s Day and I’m an only child, being an only child is going to be my first topic. Only children are all about “me, me, me,” right? Why should I deviate from that stereotype and write about something pertaining to mothers? I’m not going to mess with your head and do that to you!
3 Best:
- You *know* that you’re the favorite. This is definitely the best perk of only child-ness. My friends constantly felt like they were wronged because their parents liked their brothers or sisters better. I never had to deal with that. If my parents didn’t take my side, I knew that I was in the wrong because I was wrong.
- You don’t have to share resources. Mine, mine, and oh yeah, that’s mine too. Luckily, I grew up living next to my cousins, so this is only half true (I am a fabulous sharer!); however, in my house specifically, I did get everything. Whether or not this has messed me up for the rest of my life is still to be seen. One thing is for sure, when I get married, I want my own room. Make that my own wing. Only children need their space.
- You get to go to everything. Only children get invited to everything. Why? Because we’re a cheap date and only one extra body. Even now, as an adult, I still get invited to go places along with my parents. It’s like I’m their perpetual plus 1. While this can be a burden, it’s usually a pretty sweet deal: going to someone’s second home for a mini vacation, being invited to a swanky party, or even taking extra tickets off of someone’s hands. When was the last time the Duggar children were invited anywhere? Um, never.
3 Worst:
- You have no one to blame things on. If something in the house breaks, if part of the dessert disappears, or if something illegal turns up, you don’t have siblings to pin it on! Thank God I had dogs and a grandmother to blame *some* things on. I stooped very low and tried to blame a broken vase on a ghost once when I was little…sadly, my parents are skeptics.
- You get judged by all of the non-only children. People are usually surprised when they find out that I’m an only child. Considering the terrible myths and stereotypes about only children, I take the latter fact as a huge compliment. I don’t blame them. If I had to share a room my whole life and/or had to constantly feel like I wasn’t the one and only apple of my parents’ collective eye, I would be bitter and jealous too.
- You have no one to chip in with. When you have 4 or 5 siblings, it’s easy to get mom and dad iPads for their birthdays. When there’s just one of you, those gifts tend to be a little less fabulous. Milestones are also expensive for one person to pull off. “Mom & Dad, I know that you’ve been married for forever and that it’s a pretty big deal, how about we celebrate at Arby’s? My treat!” Yeah that sucks when their breeder friends have 8 kids who can pool funds together for such occasions.
Are you an only child, a parent of an only child, or a hater of only children? Do your 3 best and 3 worst look different than mine? What am I missing?
*Picture taken from this article*
