I just want to say that as someone who was an only child until 22, it was. fucking. awesome.

Did I ask for a sibling? Yes I did. I was eight, I didn't know any better. I wanted a sibling because the grass seemed greener and I was a dumb kid.

Was I spoiled? Well, my parents were too broke to spoil me in the material sense. But emotionally, you BET I was spoiled and it was awesome. If by spoiled you mean that I had the loving, devoted attention of two people, I was rotten to the core. But the other half of it that people don't think about is that I was also extremely cooperative. There was never an argument about who broke the lamp....there were two options and if my parents didn't break it, I probably did. There's nothing to gain by being the problem-causer so only kids learn early and often to go with the flow and try to have a good time. There's plenty of oil to go around and no competition so there's no incentive to be the squeaky wheel.

I will also note that I have a much closer relationship with both of my parents as an adult than many of people I know who had siblings. We evolved into far more of a friendship than a parent/child dynamic and that has really solidified now that I am on my own.

TL;DR: Fuck anyone who judges how many kids you have. I have siblings now who I adore but being the one and only was great too. For the life of me I cannot understand why people assume the benefits of a sibling (and there are benefits) outweigh the benefits of being an only kid. It's no better. It's not worse. It is just different and what's right for you is what you should do.

Also, anyone who says only kids won't have anyone to play with completely discounts the fact that one or both of my parents were basically available to me 24/7 for walks in the woods, pretend school, doll time, and whatever game popped into my head. Seeing as how they weren't chasing down another kid, I had just about as much companionship as any kid could ask for.