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Sibling Rivalry
I’ll be honest, having more than one child at a time can really suck. I actually would have been okay with just one. I never said that I necessarily wanted more than one, but I think my problem started when I didn’t say I was not having more than one. I left the door open, and we all know what can happen then. Of course not only does leaving the door open for just one more mean that you may get one more, like me, it could mean you get two or more…at the same time!
I was pretty much an only child. I had cousins around and they were the closest thing I got to brother’s and sister’s. As I got older (around age 10) and formed the desire to have someone to play with, I looked at my who was about 40 to tell her. Needless to say, I had to learn to make due with my friends.
I remember a lot of people telling me that it wasn’t a good idea to only have one. They would need a playmate. While this is a valid point, and often having only one child means that you can easily have a constant shadow and mini-me, I have to say that it’s much easier to just have friends who have children around the same time you 
That way when being around each other constantly gets old and they want to smash each others faces in, they can part ways til the next time.
I love each of my children dearly and in their own way. I love getting the one on one time with them that both they and I need, but unfortunately it’s rare. More time than not, there are many more hours spent between them bickering and fighting amongst each other. It’s been so bad recently, that our usual Saturday movie night has been canceled. We can’t even watch a movie without someone doing something to piss off or hurt the other. Is this competing for mom’s attention, is this just stepping on each others toes and being too close for comfort, is it just plain boredom and aggression being served up on a platter for all of hell to rain down? Who knows? I just know it sucks.
I know that people who had many children back in the day had kids to work on farms and to raise the other ones. For parent’s now, that would be considered child abuse. I’m thinking in about 10-20 years from now, having more than one child will also be considered that as well.
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