It helps me to remember that my kid has never once asked for a *real* sibling. She is asking for a fantasy sibling — someone who always wants to play the game she want to play, never asks to share anything, takes absolutely none of my time, doesn’t make noise while she is reading but doesn’t complain when she is running around screaming, never gets the bigger bowl of ice cream, never blames her for anything, and promptly disappears when she is bored of having a sibling.

There’s no such thing. I don’t feel bad about not getting my kid a unicorn or a trip to Jupiter to harvest diamonds … I don’t feel bad about not “giving” her a sibling either.