Not very happy with Blogger.com

I've been waiting to post a new post in hopes that blogger.com would have helped me by now. I'm hoping that when I hit "post" that there will be a place where others can leave comments. I've enabled everything I'm supposed to enable, and I've sent email, and I've asked for help in the help section. I just started this damn blog, and I think I'm going to move it. This only child is very demanding and wants what she wants right now. I think I've waited long enough. Hopefully, I can come and edit this entire thing because they have remedied the situation. If not.... look for me somewhere else in the near future.

Scrapbooking... 1000s of pictures, 2 pages

Ever since I had my baby... heck, since I was pregnant, I've been collecting scrapbooking supplies to highlight all those beautiful pictures of my child. I could probably have bought a small farm with the money I have spent. And from all of those supplies, and the 10s of thousands of pictures that I have of my child, I've made all of TWO pages. Yes, two. I have made a couple of digital scrapbook pages! They're still on my computer.... waiting, waiting, waiting to be printed. I have a half dozen scrapbooks with empty sleeves to house those printed pages, yet... they sit empty. It's sad, actually. I'm not sure why I have such a hard time actually getting the stuff on the page. Maybe it's my insecurity from seeing all the really nice pages put together by professionals... professional moms, that is. I just don't know. One day I'll sit down, and throw all those pictures together and make something of it. There won't be any journaling to go with those pictures, because with time goes the mind. Maybe I'll wait until my daughter is old enough, lock her in her room, and not let her come out until a book is filled.

20/20 Article

The Only Child Myth
Many Believe Lack of Siblings Leads to Selfish, Spoiled Kids
By JUJU CHANG and SARA HOLMBERG Aug. 17, 2007

Spoiled, selfish and bratty are terms often used to describe only children, which suggest that being an only child is undesirable. Is there a grain of truth to the stereotype or is it just a myth?

Angela Hult is the mother of an only child and is an only child herself. She has felt the prejudice against so-called "onlies" firsthand. She says that when people find out that she's an only child the response is often, "Oh you must have been a spoiled brat. You must be really bossy. And wow, I wonder what you're going to be like to deal with?"

The myth of the only child dates back to the late 1800s when G. Stanley Hall, known as the founder of child psychology, called being an only child "a disease in itself."

Long List of Stereotypes

Susan Newman, a social psychologist at Rutgers University and the author of "Parenting an Only Child," says the myth has been perpetuated ever since. "People articulate that only children are spoiled, they're aggressive, they're bossy, they're lonely, they're maladjusted," she said. "And the list goes on and on and on."

But is there any science that makes the stereotype stick? "No," Newman said. "There have been hundreds and hundreds of research studies that show that only children are no different from their peers."

In order to find out for ourselves, "20/20" gathered a group of onlies in New York and asked them whether they thought the stereotype is true.

"I'm an only child. I don't think I'm that bossy," Corinne said, and 16-year-old Ben said, "I'm sure there is but it's not because … they're only children. I mean, it depends on the parents. If the parents are indulgent parents you can have 30 kids, they're all gonna be overindulged."

While a battery of studies shows no difference with onlies when it comes to bossiness or acting spoiled, it turns out there is a significant difference when it comes to intelligence. A landmark 20-year study showed that increased one-on-one parenting produces higher education levels, higher test scores and higher levels of achievement.

One-on-One Time

What explains that apparent advantage? Newman says, "They have all their parents financial resources to get them extra lessons, to get them SAT training but more critical is the one-on-one time at the dinner table."

Which means more reading time, more homework time and eventually better test scores. Hult said of her son, "I think we felt as a family that we were able to give him more attention and spend more time together and really focus on him."

A generation ago, only 10 percent of families had only children. Today that percentage has more than doubled. And it's no wonder — it costs between $200,000 and $300,000 to raise one child to the age of 17, and that's not including the cost of college.

"Families have changed," said Newman. "I actually call the only child the 'new traditional family.'"

And yet, despite the explosion of families with onlies, a recent poll suggests only 3 percent of Americans believe one is an ideal number. Could it be that the myth of the only child persists?

http://abcnews.go.com/2020/Story?id=3488411&page=2

Maybe there is a syndrome.

I'm a stay-at-home-mom. Having two "only childs" in the house can be rather difficult at times. I don't think my four year old realizes that she's an only child yet. She's self-absorbed on a whole different level.

Let's reveal some history here. You see, I'm Asian-American. You'd never know it just by hearing me as I'm "southern by the grace of God" as so many like to say. I was born in Seoul, Korea to a Korean woman and my American Air Force Dad. I wasn't my father's only child, and I really never knew most of my siblings. They were adults by the time I came along. My father retired from the Air Force a few years after I was born and we moved back to his home state of South Carolina, where I lived most of my life. He died from Pancreatic Cancer in 1989, when I was only 17 years old.

Koreans like to dote on their children... to an extreme. So much that I battle with my mom because of how much she dotes on my daughter. In her eyes, I'm not nearly the mother that she was, or nearly the mother she wishes I could be. I'm ok with this assessment, as her expectations of everything are inflated beyond belief, and I've come to terms with that as best as I can as an adult. I don't mind appearing as a shitty parent in her eyes. I just wish she'd back off. She can't fully comprehend the fact that she raised me to be who I am. Unfortunately, I see myself using similar tactics in my parenting. This is not good! I do love my mama, though. Don't get me wrong. I'm certain I'll be sharing a lot more on that subject.

My first post

Growing up an only child had it's fair share of ups and downs. Now that I'm an adult, and a mom to an only child, I can see where having no brothers or sisters affected me.

I will be discussing these in the days to come. I will also share my secrets, and hopefully gain some new knowledge as well. I'll probably throw in some random stuff regarding children, parenting, things I like, things I don't like, and today's issues and current events.

I hope the discussions stay fresh, as well as the topics!