Tag Archives: only children

Reasons to Love Having an Only Child: The Preschool Years

When I was growing up, only children were perceived as very negative little human beings. My mother told me that only children were spoiled and lonely. They didn’t know how to socialize. I grew up pitying only children and vowed to have at least four children of my own. I had two siblings and loved being the big sister. Then came my daughter, and then came a host of medical challenges that made it difficult for me to have more children. I found myself in an interesting position: I needed to confront my stereotypes about only children, because I was … Continue reading →

Do Parents of Only Children Play with Their Children More?

My eldest daughter has a couple close friends who are only children—one of the topics that came up in the past was a discussion about whether or not only children got more “play time” with parents. I haven’t found any specific studies on this but thought it might make for an interesting conversation topic—I am wondering if those of us who have to split our time and attention between more than one child actually spend less time playing with our kids, or if the fact that siblings have each other to play with might influence them needing less parent play … Continue reading →

Teaching Kids To Amuse Themselves

“Do you have something for me to do?” This is Tyler’s roundabout way of saying that he’s bored. It’s hard to understand how a child with so much cannot find something to do. One of his biggest problems is he’s so accustomed to doing things with me that at times he’s unable to enjoy time alone. He can amuse himself for hours on end one day and be unable to tear himself away from me the next. Being an only child, he’s used to having me to himself and I think he’s grown comfortable with that. What I am attempting … Continue reading →