An African Mangrove. We kind of blend in to this pic,but you can see us in the left hand corner with my Dad.
On the beach in Durban, South Africa.My brother is laughing so hard at something,
probably one of his own jokes,
he still does this, but it's far less annoying now!!
Being the youngest of 3, and 3 years apart, I don't
think I have many memories that don't contain them.
Sometimes, and only sometimes, I marvel at how
different my childhood is to my daughter's.
She doesn't have any siblings, not through choice,
just unlucky there. I don't complain about it, she was hard won!
There are some advantages to having only one,
her confidence level is fantastic, nothing but
praise, no one to bring her down when she does well.
No bickering in the back of the car - oh those African road trips!!
Sibling rivalry can be a bitch.
But basically, there has been an acceptance in the last 6 months,
from both me and my partner, and we are happy, and blessed
to have one good one!
6 comments:
I'm an only one (and hopefully in my folks eyes a good one!!) :)
Being an only child really developed my ability to entertain myself as a kid and i had a killer imagination. I was also able to relate really well with adults from an early age. Sometimes I wished for a sibling but my Dad acted like an older brother most of the time:)
Being an only kid rocked - and now as an adult still rocks (my folks only had 1 wedding to help out with !)
It's good to get to a place where it is OK and you can let go and enjoy where you are. My pirate will always be an only one too.
I was the youngest of three too and my closest brother is only 15 months older so we are the best of friends. But while I'm very grateful for my siblings, we battled pretty fiercely as kids and I remember the non-stop torment from our elder brother that any kid could happily live without! Thankfully, we are all close now though.
We have also come to a place of acceptance in the past six months but for us it is that we may never have any little beings of our own. It is a gradual process of grieving and letting go and each time it comes around it seems a little gentler than before, which is a blessing. I have lots of lovely children in my life so I am lucky and enjoy them all immensely.
Having one child doesn't mean you aren't entitled to be sad or grieve about not having two...or three...or four...it is all relative and it takes time to accept and find peace with. It is so much more complex than can be put into words and I feel sad reading this that you haven't been able to have that much longed for sibling for your little girl. She sounds like she is thriving and happy and well loved and cared for so she is certainly not missing anything and my friends who were only children never have anything but positive things to say x
I'm an only and I have had cause to reflect lately on my relationship with my folks.(my Dad passed away aged 68, a few weeks ago) It is a pretty special thing to be the object of the undivided affection, love & support of your parents. I'm sure not everyone is as lucky as I have been, but I'm sure your darling will feel the same way as me...many years down the track! I always yearned for a little chaos as a kid. Now I'm rather glad to have avoided it
randomness, is that your mum?
she has ace boobs!
swimmers in that era did not flatter so well, but she looks great!
zose
xxx
much love to you xxx
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