Finished 6-19-11, rating 3.5/5, parenting, 244 pages, pub. 2011
I’m an only child and so is my husband. In all likelihood, Gage will be too. I wrote a post on the decision to have an only child a few months back (here) and I was surprised by how many of you were mothers of onlies too! And you all seemed to be in favor of it. No one who had one said they wished they’d had more. While the decision ultimately belongs to Jason and me, it was still nice to know there were so many of you out there.
If you are leaning toward having an only child or just looking for validation of your choice to have only one, then this is the book for you. Dr. Newman interviewed 100 people who were only children or the parents of onlies for this book (although over the years she has interviewed and studied countless others). This book points out the statistics that show the growing only child trend and the many reasons why this choice is a good one. Children cost a lot of money and women are waiting longer to have children, sometimes making getting pregnant and the pregnancy difficult. There are misconceptions that are put to rest, that you experience the same happiness rush with every child, that siblings are the answer, and that the stereotypes of onlies are true. In my earlier post I told you that in my experience the negative stereotypes of children are wrong and this book validates that.
If you are looking for an ‘essential guide’ like the subtitle says I think you may be disappointed. While there are study and poll results (I liked knowing that having a boy or only boys reduces your chance for divorce) most of the information included is anecdotal. The actual advise on raising only children appeared on pages 219 &220. Good tips, but I was hoping for more.
Like I said if you are thinking about it or have a friend thinking about parenting an only child and you or they need positive reinforcement you should pick up this book. It will probably aid in the decision process and alleviate guilt.
Famous Bookish Singletons- E.M Forster, Iris Murdoch, John Updike, Danielle Steel
I received this book from the publisher for this tour. Check out the other stops on the tour to see what they thought.
Stacy's Books 