Dear Charlotte:

You are welcome and good to read from you again. I am glad you will definitely not be considering a second child during  a pandemic or before Trump is out of the White House for good.

I will rephrase your question and give you my simple answer: is it better for a child to have siblings or not? My answer: it depends on the parents’ emotional resources. If the parent taking care of the first child tends to be anxious, that means the parent doesn’t have the emotional resources (calm, patience, optimism and whatnot) to have a second child.

(The studies that you read may not take this most important issue into consideration).

“my biggest concern is that if my son is an only, he will grow old without anyone else closely related to him”- there are plenty of adults with siblings who grow old alone, with no relationships with their siblings. I see them all around me. If you bring about a sibling for your son, you can’t at all predict that they will get along as children or as adults.

Please let me know if my answer is satisfactory, and if not- I will be  glad to answer you again when I return to the computer, in about 13 hours from now.

anita

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