Lucy is 7 so I don't think she really gets that a baby will never turn into the fun companion her cousins are for her. She may find the baby cute but by the time it is old enough to play with her say 3 she at 11 will not be as enthusiastic about a toddler. For her situation moving closer would be a better solution.

Adult only child of an only child here. It. Is. The. Fucking. Worst.

If the social aspect is the main factor, perhaps moving closer to family is a possible solution? Likely expensive, but perhaps not more expensive than another child.

I obviously don't know many details, but often the "disconnected" thing seems to be a way of avoiding thinking about the "should we divorce" question. To…

FWIW, I read your original comment exactly as you have reiterated it: that it is a heart-wrenching situation to see them all in turmoil over it, and that you can see how having or not having another kid affects them all, possibly negatively.

I don't know where people are pulling out all this aggressive "OH, YOU MUST…

"My brother seems strangely disconnected from the problem."

Still don't see it. He witnessed something and formed an opinion on it. I'm not following you in the slightest.

Seems to be another tangentially related problem: so many people for some bizarre reason don't discuss important things like children before they get married. Or they get married thinking their spouse will change their mind.

I always thought I'd have two. After an ectopic pregnancy, though, and being told I'd have a greater risk of it happening again (and possibly dying if it went undiscovered), we decided not to have another. It's painful to not really have a choice and sometimes I mourn that lost possibility, but writing this has…

Fucking A. What a look.

I thought he was saying it's dumb because pride in qualities you were born with is dumb.

That's some pretty seriously held prejudice there if $15-18 million won't shift it.

translation: GOP and gay, 'cause no one who claims to be in in both groups respects themselves.

I've heard no rumors insinuating self-respect.

Step 0: Figure out why you're over-eating and change the habits you have around emotional eating.

Even the comment, "I will allow you to finish" exudes unconscious bias, just sayin'.

Theoretically, since she was doing EXACTLY the entire point of her job that they hired her to do, they should give her a raise.

One small victory for today.

Damn, Justin. What happened?

I believe that Step 4 is a little easier said than done and none of the other steps really matter if Step 4 is not achieved. In fact I would say that Step 4 needs to be Step 1.