"They Eat Their Food Leisurely": People Are Revealing The Ways They Can Tell If Someone Grew Up An Only Child

There are distinct traits that often reveal whether someone grew up with siblings. Especially if they're the oldest, middle, or youngest child in a family. From the responsible and leadership-oriented tendencies of the eldest to the adaptable, peacekeeping nature of the middle child and the outgoing, attention-seeking charm of the youngest — birth order often leaves its mark. However, there are also tell-tale signs if someone grew up an only child.

Recently, Reddit user thing55556667 was curious about those only child signs when they asked: "What's a dead giveaway someone grew up as an only child?"

The thread got over 7.5K responses. Below are the top and most-often repeated comments:

1."They leave their Halloween candy in the kitchen."

2."They're great with other people's parents because they grew up chatting to adults."

3."As an only child, I’d say the struggle with conflict. It’s either all or nothing because the only daily conflict you witness is your parents, and they can often go under the radar with minor conflicts, so you’re only exposed to major disagreements and think all disagreements go like that. Whereas people with siblings know when to fight or just get over stuff."

4."They eat their food leisurely."

5."I have an only child. Her roughhousing skills are below par. We have family friends with three daughters around her age, and I tell her not to get involved in their spats because they will throwdown."

6."In my experience, they are more likely to take things personally and react emotionally. Sort of like how some people can’t understand sarcasm or figures of speech and get confused or offended by it. Only children's Achilles' heel tends to be teasing of any kind, to any degree. Poor losers often times, too."

7."They don't like being micromanaged."

8."As an only child, I absolutely NEED quiet alone time. I spent a lot of time alone as a kid, playing games alone in my room or the living room while my parents did whatever. If I go a day without quiet alone time, like on vacation or visiting someone else's house, I start to lose my sanity."

9."They do jobs that should take 2–3 people by themselves. Moving furniture and appliances, having conversations, etc."

10."As an only child, I get unreasonably angry about group punishments for someone else’s fuck up. Everyone I knew that had siblings was so nonchalant about it, but I'm like, 'I didn’t do shit! Why the hell am I being punished?'"

11."They talk to themselves...a lot."

12."As an only child, the biggest difference I’ve noticed is I seem to value my friendships more than most. My friends are quite literally what I value the most in my life."

13."They avoid unnecessary socializing."

14."My wife was an only child, and one thing I noticed is that she doesn't quite have the same perspective of 'personal space' as people with siblings. For example, our bathroom has two sinks and two drawers. My multiple-sibling mind says, 'There's two of us, one sink each, one drawer each.' Her only child mind thinks it is all open. For example, brushing her teeth in whatever sink, putting stuff in whatever drawer, etc. When you have siblings, you have to fight for 'your' drawer, but when you are an only child, it is just a drawer."

15."As an only child and now an adult, I don’t like people (my husband, kids, grandkids, etc.) to touch my stuff. I will buy you what I have, but please don’t touch my stuff. 😂 I don’t understand the concept of borrowing something."

16."Either they're the loudest in the group or the quietest."

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—oskel95

17."They just get up and leave a room without saying anything or announcing where they're going."

18.And lastly, "If you cut a cake in two, and they can’t immediately tell you which one is the bigger half."

You can read the original thread on Reddit.

Note: Some responses have been edited for length and/or clarity.