To think life with one child looks soooo easy

Basically, if the only evidence for your wildly divisive and sweeping generalisation is "All the people I know" it's probably best to leave it unsaid.

Also I'm an only child which I loved as a child but as an adult I feel like I'm missing out by not having a sibling

If it makes you feel better I have 5 children 😂 I have sometimes wonder if life would have been easier if I'd stopped at 2 or 3 but it is what is and I wouldn't change things x

😂😂😂

Oh get in the bin. Seriously.

I've got 3DC. Large gap between DC2 & DC3 so that it's almost like they are only child.

It is so much harder having dc3 than it was when dc1 & 2 were young as they had each other to play with. Both me & DP have to constantly amuse her, always inviting her friends round for play dates etc.

Having 1 dc is much harder than 2 in my opinion.

We have one. Plenty of teachers over the years have commented that we never take up time obsessing at parents evening etc
interestingly neither do those with 3 or more but the 2 kid families tend to be like this

YABU. Mine have always got on well together, so having two (especially on holiday etc) is good.

@Sounreasonable completely agree.

I dont have any kids by choice.
Im selfish what i earn is mine what i do i do for me.
I dont think id cope with being responsible for a whole human.

Hmm imagine if your husband said to you " I love you so much that I'm going to get another wife. You will be expected to be nice to her, accept there is less time and money for you and be happy about it as im doing it for you"

That's basically what you are telling your eldest child if you choose to have another " to give the eldest a sibling"

If you want more than one child fair enough but don't use the excuse it's " for your eldest to have a sibling"

Yes- it’s bloody obvious that there are pros and cons to both situations.

If you have siblings hopefully you have playmates as a child and support through your life (although I’m one of 4 siblings and I don’t have much of a relationship with any of them so it isn’t guaranteed)

but if you are an only child then you have more resources available to you- time, money and space.

I could go on and on- there isn’t a correct way.

What a load of bollocks.

The fussiest, most highly strung mother I know who doesn’t allow her kids to run in the park in case they fall has 3- presumably all mothers of 3 children are similarly hysterical?

I have one, by choice, and while it makes travelling and getting a babysitter easier, it does mean that I had to spend half an hour this evening pretending to be a customer in my DC's imaginary restaurant, which seemed to serve nothing but strawberry jam

This made me laugh @PinkPolkadotFlamingo - as my (now teen) DDs were reminiscing about their imaginary restaurant and the younger one is still really cross about the fact that she always had to be the chef and was never allowed to be the waitress and one time was made to sit in the cupboard (aka the small kitchen). As you say - pros and cons! 😂 (Alternatively - you could volunteer for the chef role and take your book in there for a few minutes of peace….?)

YABVU.

I would really like to see a different approach to these threads. Everyone seems to double down, get defensive, and want to prove that their chosen family size (if they were lucky enough to choose it) is somehow the universally optimal choice.

I think there are pros and cons to small vs large families and there doesn't need to be a competition to prove which is the best option.

It would be much nicer to see people discussing in a light hearted fashion, the cons of their family's size, as I think the OP originally intended.

I have one, by choice, and while it makes travelling and getting a babysitter easier, it does mean that I had to spend half an hour this evening pretending to be a customer in my DC's imaginary restaurant, which seemed to serve nothing but strawberry jam .

I have one. It’s often more stressful because you need to arrange and host all playdates as parents with more than one tend to prefer playdates with siblings. That means you need to always be on during the school run which is just awful sometimes.

Second never happened even we tried for many years. So what? Yes, our life is peaceful, lush, calm and so?

My colleague had 4 daughters under 2! His daughter was 18 months when his triplets were born.

Try having 3 4 and under including twins! And yes it's hard!

We have one and love hosting playdates. I love the noise and fun and vibe.

But it's totally different to siblings. Siblings enjoy playfighting and winding eachother up in a way that friends don't. It has its own charm and the siblings love eachother but it is very different engagement

@Croissant59 Yes, he's in Scouts and loves it!

Have you considered the scouts? They're great for building a social group and they often do camps in the summer that don't cost much.

I had one and always preferred it if he a friend round. Much less effort when they have someone to play with. He wasn't very calm tbh though as he is ASC/ADHD. My BIL/SIL have three girls and they always seemed much calmer than my one ADHD boy!