Across the fruited plain. People are rude, everywhere.

The money we didn't have to spend on more kids will keep us nice and cozy!!

Absolutely. I empathize with parents of "large" families. (Also, when I was growing up, four wasn't even a large family.)

I'm going to clean my phone now. My head just exploded all over it.

It's damn ugly. Damn ugly.

I have five siblings, and we have good relationships, but I never got much attention. My parents are good people, but who can possibly give six people adequate attention? I never wanted my kid to experience that. But at least they didn't favor my brother for being male.

I know some other mothers of onlies, and we've all noticed that after the smug insults, a revealing confession often follows. It goes something like this:

Pretty much what I always thought, but didn't say. What I did say, rather passive aggressively, was, "She's so fabulous, we knew we'd never do as well again."

Well, I prefer to think of her as my sweet daughter :), but yes, that's pretty much right.

No matter what. So yes, go for what feels right.

Jealousy is definitely a factor. Especially when people realize that the parents of onlies have careers and experience parenthood with fewer sacrifices.

You are lucky. Also, I find that progressives are just as intrusive on this as conservatives.

I empathize strongly with the childless by choice, because I've been so badly treated for having an only. Among the comments I used to receive when our kid was younger:

I've thought that many times. I've wondered if dumbing them down was maybe the point.

Well stated!

For their sakes, I hope they overcome their fears, because you don't get anyway if you're always cringing. I care about my students and want them to succeed.

I see a lot. But fear of job security should not keep you from assertively challenging a textbook, surely. It shouldn't make students weep at getting a B+ instead of an A on their history tests. Almost all of my students are working class, but that doesn't make them clueless. That doesn't account for their near-total…

I didn't mean "attached" in a bad way. I meant close to their parents. I meant that they were not in heavy rebellion. I think that teens are too commonly called rebellious. They vary as much as any other group.

My experience in dealing with over a thousand college-bound or first-year college students, over 20 years, has led me to believe this:

God, sex conversations in the car. I remember them well!