Having Siblings and Being the Only Child

There are four distinctive differences between having siblings and being the only child.¹ First, having siblings means that children will have friends for life because they are more than just friends; they are also family.² Secondly, the presence of siblings facilitates the sharing of responsibilities, such as household chores and caring for one another.³ Third, having siblings means sharing resources, which can limit them in some areas, such as children’s parents' attention, money for school, toys, and other things.⁴ The number of siblings that the child will have can also influence in limitations on their material possessions.⁵ Having siblings helps to socialize at a young age because children communicate daily not only with their parents but also with their siblings, who are friends, depending on their age gap.⁶ On the other hand, being the only child is complicated sometimes because once the child gets home, friends are gone, and they could feel lonely at the end of the day, especially if both parents work 24/7.⁷ Second, being the only child means having independence most of the time because this child is not taking care of someone else, and no one else is taking care of him.⁸ Which means that he has this freedom to go by himself, but when it's time to do duties, everything's on him too.⁹ Third, being the only child has the advantage of having more opportunities because parents can afford them, such as trips, toys, studying abroad, quality education, and economic support.¹⁰ Lastly, being the only child means having the individual attention of both parents.¹¹ In conclusion, having siblings or being the only child has differences that could lead to advantages or a lack of resources for both. But, despite those differences, there's no single ‘right’ experience growing up with siblings or being the only child.¹² In addition to that, both will have experiences that will indeed build their personalities, but most importantly, unconditional love will come from their parents.¹³