ODD... YOU DON'T LOOK LIKE AN ONLY CHILD!

My husband and I went to lunch at a local Sushi restaurant to celebrate the publication of my book, “The Seven Common Sins of Parenting an Only Child” in Korean. This restaurant is located on a street that used to be frequented by preppy locals, little old blue-haired ladies and students from the tony girls’ school a few blocks away. Then it was discovered by the studios (You can stand in the middle of the street and see the Hollywood sign on a clear day) and almost simultaneously the area became a multi-ethnic melting pot. We were waited on by a cool young Korean fellow who told us that the owner is Korean as well. Since the Koreans and Japanese have a long standing dislike of one another (check out their history of hostilities), this is rather incredible. Even more interesting, our handsome waiter told us that he is an only child, who according to his parents, didn’t turn out very well. I said that he looked pretty good to me. His parents wanted him to be a doctor or a lawyer (like all good Korean and Jewish parents), but he was a rebel child. Instead of going to college he enlisted in the military (just got out) and wants to be a chef…an Italian chef. He wants to buy my book for his parents so that they can figure out where they went wrong. I, however, think that they did something very right since Augustine (prophetic Italian name) is clearly his own person, an adventurer, and a lover of life. He says that he wants to be a starving artist. We told him that as long as cooks for others he will never starve.

Comments

[Chewy]

How funny. I am the oldest of 2 in my family ( just myself and my slightly younger brother) but the mother of an Only. I did not set out to have just her but I'm not in a relationship and she's now 8. While I'm only 27, I can't see her having a sibling. It upsets me though that even my own mother says I am being selfish for not providing a sibling for my daughter- Hello! I'm not married! Why would I put another child through a single parent home? I love the time that we spend together- just the two of us, but I have to admit I think I do overindulge a bit. I'm glad that your book is out there for some suggestions and support. Thanks!

[Martha Garcia]

Clearly, this young man's parents have issues that are culturally-based and have nothing to do with whether or not their son has siblings. In other words, he SHOULD have been a doctor or lawyer to honor his family. No thought was probably ever given to what he WANTED to do with his life because that was clearly not important. Ugh! He parents would have disapproved if he had ten siblings. How very sad. I feel really badly for the guy, but he sounds like a good egg to me!

[Meg]

I've read part of that book, but I thought it was perpetuating a lot of the same myths discussed on this blog. Does anyone know, is Carolyn White an only child herself? She seems to write from the point of view that having siblings should be the common denominator and doesn't consider whether her inability to set boundaries with her own kid is not a common sin of parenting one child, but, rather, a common sin of parenting, in general.