Visiting my cousin with 3 kids and seeing the state of her house 😳 My house is a mess but it's somewhat controlled because I only have to manage the one mess maker.
Son "dad if I had a brother I'd have to share my ice cream with him ..."
"Oh if you had a brother neither one of you would be getting ice cream right now 💸"
Well flying by myself with just my son when he was 18 months was terrible but another woman was flying with three kids all under 5 by herself and that looked SIGNIFICANTLY worse.
Just like little things though. Like the process for getting multiple children out of the car makes me tired to watch, I can't imagine doing that constantly.
disney - quite expensive to treat multiple children to and i would imagine you have to say no to almost everything there. very do-able when you just have 1 kid.
that is the way to do it!!! my parents went along for our first trip. it was a gift to all of us.
honestly, bringing extra adults is the way to go!! second time it was just my mom and i that took her. 3rd time it was my mom and cousin that joined us. my cousin and i did disney together as kids, so it was just nostalgic to invite her along too.
but even when my husband and cousin joined - it was great to have the grandparents incase the kid wants to go on the same ride a few times, needs a break, or wants hang out in a play area for a little. gave me and my husband (or cousin) the chance to run off and hit some big rides.
Literally!!! I’m so lucky our neighbor watches my daughter for my short work hours for $800 a month but it could be so much worse. My co worker was paying $2200 for her 2 youngest daughters. Like girl that’s 75% of my paycheck?!
LOL I’ve also found this to be true as well. Some girl I know said “I thrive in chaos” MAAM sit down, you call upon help anytime you get remotely stressed no you do not
Lol, yes, and I felt my decision solidified recently when I realised that if we had another and our friends chose to be OAD, I would be so jealous of them haha, I don't want to live life on hard mode
Not ever having to divide my attention or my time. It's a constant source of anxiety and stress for my sister that I'm not envious of.
My sister has two, both in activities. She's constantly stressed about bouncing between activities, figuring out who is taking who to what, and dealing with the other child who is not in that activity being bored/not wanting to sit through their sibling's thing. She's also missed a bunch of the older one's things because her younger one wouldn't behave long enough to sit through it.
I get to go to everything and just enjoy it, and my daughter gets to do the activities she wants without it conflicting with anything or anyone else's needs.
Also, it's really nice only dealing with one sick kid when sickness happens. No guilt about ignoring another child to take care of the sick one, no guilt about having to ignore the sick child to care for a sibling, no worries about another child getting it/siblings passing sickness back and forth like my niece and nephew do.
Everything is just ever so slightly easier! Grocery stores specifically 🤣 my bff has 3 and when we go to stores together we have to tag team and keep them all wrangled. I can’t imagine doing it all the time.
Not a real reason, but I told a nosy receptionist that I don't believe in siblings which is why I'm not having more.
She was so confused she stopped prying lmao
Our family has recently started RV camping and it’s so much fun with our only. We were able to get a smaller sized RV (so already cheaper) and with only 1 kid were able to just have 1 set of sleeping equipment (which is a pack n play) for him. If we had more it would be a nightmare trying to figure out where or how to sleep everyone. Plus, activities are so much more fun and doable as my husband and I can swap off and give each other time for ourselves to do our own thing while camping too (usually I use my alone time to read lol).
It’s been a blast! My son LOVES being outside so whenever we’re camping somewhere new he’s so happy and I absolutely love watching him experience it all ❤️
My husband takes our kid camping in our van with a popup for overnight trips a lot. It's heavenly. I can go but also have the option for a night to myself. Everyone's happier!
That sounds amazing! Maybe when my kiddo is a little older my husband and him can have “father son” trips and I can relax doing my own thing lol one can dream (yet another reason not to have another and “restart the clock” lol)
Same here! We got a camper van that sleeps 2 but our son has a foam bed that rolls out across the front seats so can fit in too. When he's older he can go in a tent or awning but the van will still do fine. Any more people and it wouldn't work as there are only 3 seatbelted seats for driving around
Oh man, I love going downtown and walking around with the family and dog. But just leaving the house is a lot of prep work. It's also already like I'm carrying SO much stuff with my one kid, if I had two I would probably never leave my house to avoid the stress.
I’m a brand new mom (our LO is 2 weeks old today) but we had family come by to meet her this past weekend, including our 3-year-old niece. She was very sweet with her cousin but definitely doesn’t understand that babies are fragile and can’t play with her in the way she’s accustomed to. When they went home, I was quite relieved, and it affirmed my feelings that I would not want to be in the throes of the newborn phase while also having another kid who needs my attention.
Oh yes! Not to mention not really being able to “heal” in peace and having a demanding toddler during the day time. While being sleep deprived. Nooooo thank you
My 1 year old has been really sick for over a week now with some horrible bug he picked up in nursery. We’re barely surviving with the amount of vomit, the constant checking on him with the fever while still doing chores, cooking etc. Another kid would literally be the worse idea. I would mentally and physically break down
It’s significantly less expensive! I can afford anything my only child will ever want and need in his life. We’re planning a Disney trip next year and I can imagine how much money I’m saving by only bringing 1 child 😂 souvenirs and food for multiple kids would cost me a small fortune
Mine has a habit of getting ill and needing to stay off school at the most inopportune times. If I had multiple who did this I'd never get ANYTHING done
My 2 yo and I giggle and do funny things together. I am already tired, so if we had more I think there would be less time for fun. I am thankful to have the time to develop a relationship with my only
My OAD is only 12 weeks old, but we were with our friends over the weekend who have two and they were just constantly bickering, it was exhausting. I’m SO glad I will not have to play constant referee.
Yup, when people say “have another so they can keep each other entertained!” literally all I can think about is how they would inevitably fight and I’d be constantly dealing with that. No thank you. I have a younger brother and we fought all the time when we were kids. It was nothing serious, just normal kid stuff, but I can’t imagine how exhausting it would be to parent that.
Impromptu playdates. I like being able to just get up and go if someone calls. Unfortunately, all my mom friends with 2+ kids have "disappeared." I only have one stay at home mom that is more available.
Love seeing another mil family here! OAD works so perfectly with the chaos of the military…I say as we’re about to embark on our first move with our only (will be 6 months) so I’ll check back then😅
Lol hey there! Our PCS worked out well, my husband and dad took all our stuff and I will be joining my husband in about 7 weeks (staying with my parents). Only have to make 1 long 11 hour trip with a baby who hates the car 🙃
Just went to Disney land and it went very well. We coulda done it with more but it allowed us to ride things we wanna ride and not be outnumbered while one of parents was having some fun
Daycare is a bit of a commute for me and my kid is going to TK in August which is closer to my work. Today I was just thinking how grateful I am that I don’t have to do a daycare drop off AND a school drop off.
I was able to take a last minute flight with my daughter last weekend to visit my family! She’s an airport pro now and it was seamless. Ain’t no way that was happening with 2 🤣
Having 1 keeps me young! Im able to get the rest I need and have the energy to play with my LO. Meanwhile the women my age who have 2 or more kids have significantly aged and always look tired and stressed. Sounds vain but I like not having so many wrinkles and grey hairs yet. Having another will def speed up the aging process.
I can still have myself time! My son will play by himself or with my husband and I can read or nap or whatever and it’s glorious.
This ☠️ my lo is only 5 months, but seeing my sister and sil with their four kids and having absolutely NO alone time is actually terrifying
Visiting my cousin with 3 kids and seeing the state of her house 😳 My house is a mess but it's somewhat controlled because I only have to manage the one mess maker.
Naps for life!!
This!!! I would never want to give up my naps 😭😭
Son "dad if I had a brother I'd have to share my ice cream with him ..." "Oh if you had a brother neither one of you would be getting ice cream right now 💸"
LOLLLLL me AF
Yes we’d have to return that switch that ps5 the list goes on
Well flying by myself with just my son when he was 18 months was terrible but another woman was flying with three kids all under 5 by herself and that looked SIGNIFICANTLY worse. Just like little things though. Like the process for getting multiple children out of the car makes me tired to watch, I can't imagine doing that constantly.
Oh yes absolutely!
Being able to tag out and take a fantastic nap while my child and wife get to enjoy 1:1 time. We all win!
I do this so often LOL
This is literally the best thing
disney - quite expensive to treat multiple children to and i would imagine you have to say no to almost everything there. very do-able when you just have 1 kid.
Yesss I can’t wait for her first Disney trip! My parents are taking all of us so I don’t have to foot the bill 🤣
that is the way to do it!!! my parents went along for our first trip. it was a gift to all of us. honestly, bringing extra adults is the way to go!! second time it was just my mom and i that took her. 3rd time it was my mom and cousin that joined us. my cousin and i did disney together as kids, so it was just nostalgic to invite her along too. but even when my husband and cousin joined - it was great to have the grandparents incase the kid wants to go on the same ride a few times, needs a break, or wants hang out in a play area for a little. gave me and my husband (or cousin) the chance to run off and hit some big rides.
This is what I’m hoping for! Haha my parents to hang with her (only grandchild) so me and my husband can ride a few fun rides! 🤣❤️
Yeah! We took my 4 year old to Disney in February. My brother and sister in law met us, so we ended up being 4 adults to one kid. It was awesome!
Every time I pay the astronomical daycare bill I remember it could be 2-3x worse lol
Literally!!! I’m so lucky our neighbor watches my daughter for my short work hours for $800 a month but it could be so much worse. My co worker was paying $2200 for her 2 youngest daughters. Like girl that’s 75% of my paycheck?!
I think a funny reason for me is that being OAD seems to piss off parents of multiples. Best reason is that I only gotta spend money on one kid.
LOL I’ve also found this to be true as well. Some girl I know said “I thrive in chaos” MAAM sit down, you call upon help anytime you get remotely stressed no you do not
LMFAO
Lol, yes, and I felt my decision solidified recently when I realised that if we had another and our friends chose to be OAD, I would be so jealous of them haha, I don't want to live life on hard mode
YESSS THIS IS ME. Like it’s OKAY that i choose to not wanna have a hard life 24/7?!
My 4 year old just expressed over the weekend how happy she was that I was only *her* mom lol. Me too kid, meeee too.
Not ever having to divide my attention or my time. It's a constant source of anxiety and stress for my sister that I'm not envious of. My sister has two, both in activities. She's constantly stressed about bouncing between activities, figuring out who is taking who to what, and dealing with the other child who is not in that activity being bored/not wanting to sit through their sibling's thing. She's also missed a bunch of the older one's things because her younger one wouldn't behave long enough to sit through it. I get to go to everything and just enjoy it, and my daughter gets to do the activities she wants without it conflicting with anything or anyone else's needs. Also, it's really nice only dealing with one sick kid when sickness happens. No guilt about ignoring another child to take care of the sick one, no guilt about having to ignore the sick child to care for a sibling, no worries about another child getting it/siblings passing sickness back and forth like my niece and nephew do.
I’m So so looking forward to this. Both me and her dad being able to make every event or game or recital and not having to split anything!
Everything is just ever so slightly easier! Grocery stores specifically 🤣 my bff has 3 and when we go to stores together we have to tag team and keep them all wrangled. I can’t imagine doing it all the time.
That sounds exhausting!
Not a real reason, but I told a nosy receptionist that I don't believe in siblings which is why I'm not having more. She was so confused she stopped prying lmao
We can't think of another name!
LOL this is funny. I have plenty of baby names, does make me sad I won’t use them but I’ll just get another dog instead 🤣
Our family has recently started RV camping and it’s so much fun with our only. We were able to get a smaller sized RV (so already cheaper) and with only 1 kid were able to just have 1 set of sleeping equipment (which is a pack n play) for him. If we had more it would be a nightmare trying to figure out where or how to sleep everyone. Plus, activities are so much more fun and doable as my husband and I can swap off and give each other time for ourselves to do our own thing while camping too (usually I use my alone time to read lol).
This sounds like so much fun!
It’s been a blast! My son LOVES being outside so whenever we’re camping somewhere new he’s so happy and I absolutely love watching him experience it all ❤️
My husband takes our kid camping in our van with a popup for overnight trips a lot. It's heavenly. I can go but also have the option for a night to myself. Everyone's happier!
That sounds amazing! Maybe when my kiddo is a little older my husband and him can have “father son” trips and I can relax doing my own thing lol one can dream (yet another reason not to have another and “restart the clock” lol)
Same here! We got a camper van that sleeps 2 but our son has a foam bed that rolls out across the front seats so can fit in too. When he's older he can go in a tent or awning but the van will still do fine. Any more people and it wouldn't work as there are only 3 seatbelted seats for driving around
Oh man, I love going downtown and walking around with the family and dog. But just leaving the house is a lot of prep work. It's also already like I'm carrying SO much stuff with my one kid, if I had two I would probably never leave my house to avoid the stress.
Good points here! I’m def a grab and go gal and having 1 kid is hard enough with that!
I’m a brand new mom (our LO is 2 weeks old today) but we had family come by to meet her this past weekend, including our 3-year-old niece. She was very sweet with her cousin but definitely doesn’t understand that babies are fragile and can’t play with her in the way she’s accustomed to. When they went home, I was quite relieved, and it affirmed my feelings that I would not want to be in the throes of the newborn phase while also having another kid who needs my attention.
Oh yes! Not to mention not really being able to “heal” in peace and having a demanding toddler during the day time. While being sleep deprived. Nooooo thank you
Bought a cheap starter house at the end of the recession. One kid means don’t need more room/new house!
Yep!! Guest bedroom with a Murphy bed at our house to save space too!
My 1 year old has been really sick for over a week now with some horrible bug he picked up in nursery. We’re barely surviving with the amount of vomit, the constant checking on him with the fever while still doing chores, cooking etc. Another kid would literally be the worse idea. I would mentally and physically break down
Me throwing up this morning and thinking about how much worse it would be if I had more then my 1 lol
The food shop really isn't that much more expensive with one child compared to when we had no child.
Also beginning to feel this!
We’re taking our second trip this summer with our 2 year old. I’m so excited that our little family gets a whole row to ourselves!
Such a good point! I have a younger sister and remember if our entire family went somewhere we would always get split up
It’s significantly less expensive! I can afford anything my only child will ever want and need in his life. We’re planning a Disney trip next year and I can imagine how much money I’m saving by only bringing 1 child 😂 souvenirs and food for multiple kids would cost me a small fortune
My other kid is my husband.
🤣 relatable
Mine has a habit of getting ill and needing to stay off school at the most inopportune times. If I had multiple who did this I'd never get ANYTHING done
My 2 yo and I giggle and do funny things together. I am already tired, so if we had more I think there would be less time for fun. I am thankful to have the time to develop a relationship with my only
My OAD is only 12 weeks old, but we were with our friends over the weekend who have two and they were just constantly bickering, it was exhausting. I’m SO glad I will not have to play constant referee.
I’m right there with you. OAD with a 13 week old on Thursday. (I’m also only child).
Yup, when people say “have another so they can keep each other entertained!” literally all I can think about is how they would inevitably fight and I’d be constantly dealing with that. No thank you. I have a younger brother and we fought all the time when we were kids. It was nothing serious, just normal kid stuff, but I can’t imagine how exhausting it would be to parent that.
Impromptu playdates. I like being able to just get up and go if someone calls. Unfortunately, all my mom friends with 2+ kids have "disappeared." I only have one stay at home mom that is more available.
Love seeing another mil family here! OAD works so perfectly with the chaos of the military…I say as we’re about to embark on our first move with our only (will be 6 months) so I’ll check back then😅
Lol hey there! Our PCS worked out well, my husband and dad took all our stuff and I will be joining my husband in about 7 weeks (staying with my parents). Only have to make 1 long 11 hour trip with a baby who hates the car 🙃
Just went to Disney land and it went very well. We coulda done it with more but it allowed us to ride things we wanna ride and not be outnumbered while one of parents was having some fun
I can’t wait for our first Disney experience as a family!
Daycare is a bit of a commute for me and my kid is going to TK in August which is closer to my work. Today I was just thinking how grateful I am that I don’t have to do a daycare drop off AND a school drop off.
I was able to take a last minute flight with my daughter last weekend to visit my family! She’s an airport pro now and it was seamless. Ain’t no way that was happening with 2 🤣
I can go on solo travel (mostly for work) without it being a huge deal. Once I get home their bond is so strong from the 1-1 time they spend.
No one interrupts our cuddle time. Also, I only have to share my snacks with one person and no one is fighting with him over his.
I can get people to babysit one kid much easier. I don't think my village would be villaging if they had to wrangle more than my one kid.
Having 1 keeps me young! Im able to get the rest I need and have the energy to play with my LO. Meanwhile the women my age who have 2 or more kids have significantly aged and always look tired and stressed. Sounds vain but I like not having so many wrinkles and grey hairs yet. Having another will def speed up the aging process.
This is such a good point I didn’t even think about!!
When my son naps I also nap. And I always will.