Now, I have a whole new way to consider parenting her -- a way that is the total opposite of my extroverted instincts.

These are declarations that I -- and other moms of only children -- really don't want to hear. Questions we really don't want to answer. So be kind.

During the process of deciding whether or not to have another child, I heard often from people that it was "wrong" to have only one if it was possible, health-wise, to have more. One person even called it a "disservice" to my first child.

I don't think my take on this is unreasonable. Nor does my husband, who likes to sleep in even more than I do.

"Only," as an adjective, modifies the word "child." He is your "only child." We don't ask of lottery winners: Is this your only million? That would seem to be looking a gift horse in the mouth, questioning an obvious surfeit from a position of condescension.

Wanting just one child didn't make me a bad mother and it didn't make us less of a family.

I'm worried that by the time my son turns seven, his dad and I will both have to take on additional jobs just to handle the expenses. And new research shows it's not just us -- it's the new reality of having kids.

Life is short, and childhood even shorter. Besides, Legos are really, really fun to build.

By Susan Newman, Ph.D. Within a few months of my son's birth, I was put on the questioning block, "When are you having another?" I heard that almos...

It's not like she can't get one dad or the other to sit on the floor and enact elaborate serial dramas involving Barbie talent shows. But there comes a point when pretend-play fatigue sets in. And we adults reach that point long before she does.

We're passing one of those nostalgia-infused candy shops when I spot him. At seven, he's about the same age and size as my 4-foot-3-inch hulk of a son...