Being an only child is an experience, to say the least. We're our own first confidant, our first best friend, our first love. We learn our self before we even get the chance to learn someone else. And, we don't have any issue with that. Because, while most wouldn't trade their siblings for anything, us only children wouldn't trade our solitude for the world. Few people besides us understand that. From the everlasting spoiled myth about us to the "permanent oddball" theory, the assumptions only get more asinine as time goes by.
What many fail to understand is that being an only child equipped us with characteristics and joys that they will never experience.
Only children, this one's for you.
1. Having so much alone time.
As only children, we spent a lot of time alone. This taught us how to love being alone at an early age, something plenty of people struggle with. Many of us actually hate being surrounded by people.
2. Knowing that we don’t need anyone at all!
Being an only child teaches you early on that you have your own back like no one else. It also taught us that if we can spend our most formative years alone, why would we ever need anyone else? If you're in our lives, it's because we want you to be. Not because we need you.
3. Always having all of our parents’ attention is awesome... most of the time.
This ties into the only children being spoiled myth. I can't count how many times someone's assumed I was spoiled because I'm a one of one.
The thing is, we're not necessarily spoiled. We just got more because we were the only ones to give it to. And while the gifts were nice, the attention was better. Not having to share my parents with anyone else? Unbeatable.
Independence.
Being an only child teaches you early on to depend on yourself. While our parents may have had our backs, we learned very quickly how to depend on ourselves/solve our own problems. With no one to look up to or no one else depending on us, we learned to navigate life as best as we could. By our self.
Early maturity.
Only children usually spend their childhood with one or two primary people. Usually our parents. Our earliest form of socialization is with adults. While they tried their hardest with our childhoods, it's unrealistic for parents to become completely child-like. Instead, we became adult-like. Being an only child equipped us with a better understanding of the world than most and from an earlier age. It comes in immensely handy, all the time.
We're the best best friends and significant others!
You'd be hard pressed to find a better friend than an only child. Or anything, really. Since we were oh-so-lonely (hey, I liked it) as children, we tend to value relationships more than most. Sometimes, to our own detriment. We bring our maturity, independence, and caring nature to the table to be the best whatever we can be!
7. We’re our own best friend.
Probably my favorite off of this whole list, an only child's first best friend is their self. And that never really changes. We fall in love with our selves before we do with anyone else. We understand that yeah, other people are cool, but our own company is unbeatable.
A lot of people talk down on only children or have these ridiculous assumptions about us. Science likes to paint us as "misfits," or "permanent oddballs." It's completely okay, because these are only a few awesome things about us, and they'll never have the fortune of knowing exactly what we feel like. Only children, you're the best.
