I know it’s too early to start talking like we’re going to have only one child, but there’s some interesting research out there lately that suggests only kids aren’t the hyper-entitled terrors they were once thought to be.
I’m a member of the “que sera sera” camp; If we have another child, great. If not, no problem. Would it be a neat experience for Ava to have a sibling? Sure. Would it stress our underdeveloped parenting skills to the point of collapse? Possibly.
I do like the portability of one child, especially a small one like Ava. It’s not too difficult to get her up and going and into the car when we need to get somewhere. I suppose if there were another child involved, we’d just have to split up and each take a kid. A couple people I’ve talked to who have three kids mention the sensation of suddenly being outnumbered, which is funny at first but then becomes increasingly terrifying as you project the idea into the future.
I grew up next door to a big Catholic family. Fourteen kids (and only 1 girl!). Now that I have my own child, I can’t for the life of me figure out how those parents did what they did. I know it’s a Catholic thing, but surely there was a point somewhere along the way when the mother said, “Oh, God, not again.” That’s, like, 20 straight years of being pregnant. I wonder if you go through pregnancy withdrawal after being pregnant that long. I can’t imagine there’s any amount of money in the world that would convince Leah to do something like that. One child is starting to sound better all the time.