This article is worth a read. It answers again the question for me of why most who choose not to not have many kids do it (there are certainly exceptions). This excerpt gets to to heart of the matter. People make this choice in many cases simply to guard their own selfish desires. The rest of the article seems simply to be a huge attempt to justify how such a selfish choice might be good for the kid also. Guilt is a powerful motivater.
The Only Child: Debunking the Myths
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| It’s a conversation I have most weeks — if not most days. This time, it happens when my 2-year-old daughter and I are buying milk at the supermarket. The cashiers fawn over her pink cheeks and applaud when she twirls for them, and then I endure the usual dialogue. |
| “Another one coming soon?” |
| “Nope — it might be just this one.” |
| And since I celebrated my 35th birthday, I have to ask myself not when but if. My parents asked themselves that question when I was my daughter’s age and decided the answer was no. They wanted the experience of parenting but also their careers, the freedom to travel and the lower cost and urbane excitement of making a home in an apartment rather than a suburban house. Back then, their choice was rare, but if we too choose to stop at one child, my daughter will likely feel far less alone in her only status than I did. |
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