"More often than not, only children will prefer the company of adults and view other children as loose cannons. They command a great deal of attention from adults, and if a parent doesn't know how to get that under control, they'll be at the mercy of that child."

On the other hand, White notes, parents of only children also need to learn to leave their only offspring alone.

On the plus side, the extra time only children spend interacting with adults frequently gives them a leg up academically and socially.

Myth: Only children are aggressive and bossy. Fact: Only children learn quickly that attempting to run the show, a ploy that they may get away with at home, doesn’t work with friends and a bossy, aggressive attitude is a quick ticket to ostracism from the group. Lacking siblings, only children want to be included and well liked. Myth: All only children have imaginary companions to compensate for their loneliness. Fact: There is no scientific evidence. Jerome Singer, Ph.D., professor of psychology and child study at Yale University, confirms that the imagination required to create make-believe friends “is not the exclusive property of the ‘only’ child, the isolated, the ill or the handicapped. Imaginary friends serve a purpose of meeting a need—to confront loneliness, to combat a fear, or to compensate for feelings of weakness in relation to adults or older children.” Any child can feel that need.

According to the Department of Agriculture, families with an average income between roughly $57,000 and $98,000 will spend a little over $286,000 to rear one child from birth through age seventeen-college not included

Lacking siblings, only children want to be included and well liked.

Children with siblings often have more "who is the boss" difficulties because they are forced to share toys and other possessions, television time, and parents.