My sister and I spent last weekend in Atlanta together reminiscing about the years we both spent living there in the 90s. Good times, I assure you. This particular trip down memory lane included swaying to Irish music at Limerick Junction, toasting to good times at Moe's & Joe's, sipping mochas at Aurora Coffee and talking non-stop at Murphy's - home to Atlanta's best cheese grits (in our opinion anyway). It was an amazing trip, in part, because it was the first time in a long time that we had time together by ourselves.

These days we mostly see each other at holiday gatherings - always with kids in tow. Add in the fact that I live in New York and she lives in the Louisville, Kentucky area, and you'll quickly see it's nearly impossible to find time for just the two of us. My sister's milestone birthday served as a catalyst for some much needed sister time! It's hard to believe that there was a time in our 20s and 30s when we spent days on end together...

Although we spent last weekend sans-kids, we did talk about our boys quite a bit. Although my sister had a five year head start on me, we both delivered healthy boys and have shared the journey of parenting an only child ever since. Since we grew up in family of five where I'm the oldest, my sister is the youngest and we have a brother in between, it's hard for either of us to imagine what it's like for our boys. Will they feel lonely as an only? Do we spoil them and dote more than we would with multiples?

For the most part, we don't spend time dwelling (time? who has time?) on these questions. We're too busy actually raising our onlies. Thankfully we agree that the joys far outweigh any negative preconceptions society holds about "only children". You know, they're typcially "spoiled brats"? Not that our boys don't have both "spoiled" and "bratty" moments, it's just that it doesn't define them. My sister and I are happy moms of boys who adore each other and just happen to be only children. They're cousins after all, and to them that's just about the coolest thing ever.