Some reframes to help us parents of onlys have more self-compassion and perspective on this awesome endeavor we're undertaking. And since it's episode 10, we are celebrating by giving away 10 copies of the classic parenting book How to Talk So Kids Will Listen and Listen So Kids Will Talk! Simply share our show on social media and send the screenshot to PopernackPodcasts@gmail.com. We'll send copies to the first 10 folks who do it! Meanwhile, in this episode we validate that 1) being the only playmate can be...a lot 2) society doesn't support parents of any number of children; this is hard and important work we're doing 3) mental health is real- we talk about anxiety. We pick up in the second part, episode 11, about depression and more. This episode and part 2 are designed to be something we can turn to when we're maybe being hard on ourselves, can we remember just how momentous it is to parent one child and do it well, in covid times, with all we've got going on? Genuine respect and we appreciate you listening- you are welcome to join our Facebook community One and Done: Raising an Only Child Not a Lonely Child. Audio got cut off but Jamie was also talking about how sometimes siblings don't get along....for a long time. So the idea of a constant playmate for our kid may also be a fantasy, as discussed on our last episode. There is so much to include in a pep talk but we hope the little we were able to cover here, and the additions in part 2, will bring some positivity and perspective to the question that prompted all this, from our Facebook group member: "why can't I handle more?" Audio clip is property of the NBC show 30 Rock. *episode cuts suddenly due to technical issues*