From Friend’s Chandler to Gilmore Girls’ Rory (& Lorelai & Paris & Lane…) to The O.C.’s Seth Cohen to New Girls’ Schmidt and beyond, being an Only Child can be… interesting. There’s just something about only children that makes them stand out… Spoiled, self-centered, weird, and lonely – growing up without siblings shapes them in a way that makes it hard for them to fit in. Or, at least, that’s what movies and tv seem to want us to think. Only Child Syndrome is a long standing trope – both on screen and in real life – that suggests that being the ‘only’ sets you up for a lot of problems throughout childhood and into your adult years. But is that actually true? Let’s take a deeper look at the traits associated with Only Child Syndrome versus the reality of what it’s like to be an only kid to find out why everyone’s convinced it’s such a miserable time, and if it really spells doom for anyone growing up solo.
timestamps:
00:00 Intro
00:58 Spoiled & self-centered?
04:36 The real reason many only have 1 kid now
05:12 Gilmore Girls & the many different types of only children
07:23 Weird & Lonely?
08:26 Being surrounded by adults
10:06 Why only children cherish their friends so much
10:55 Suddenly no longer the only (for better or worse)
12:39 Only doesn’t have to mean all alone!
