Hello!
I have a young only, still in infancy, and I'm fairly certain that my reproductive region is closed for business now. It seems strange to love my tiny human so dearly and to have enjoyed the process of parenting so much (..most of the time :| - well, except for those harrowing first few weeks) and yet never want to 'go through it' again.
Do other parents feel this way? That once was all you needed? That you just didn't want any more children?
I've already sold some of my baby's earliest bits and pieces: clothes, cloth carriers, milestone cards, maternity dresses, that sort of thing. The next item on the list of things to sell is the crib, which has really always just been a dumping ground for books, tissues, blankets etc in our bedroom. Our baby rarely slept away from us, anyway, so I don't feel sentimental about parting with these things.
I'm reading a book called Parenting an Only Child by Dr Susan Newman. It's fairly dated but the points she raises about the 'issues' that can come with raising an only remain true today. She argues that it is especially important for parents of onlies to have lives of their own, hobbies, interests, passions to focus on besides their son or daughter, otherwise there is too much of a risk of the parent living through their child.
Do you find that as a parent of an only you have more time for yourself, your work, your interests than your peers with more than one child, or not really? Was this deliberate? Something you always wanted or did it just happen?
I kind of want to find a balance between being a doting mother and being myself.