The six words Sonia Kruger had been dreading to hear

Sonia Kruger’s six-year-old daughter finally asked the guilt-inducing question she’s been waiting for - luckily the TV host already had her response prepared.

“Mummy... I really want a sister.” The six words I’d been dreading to hear – possibly only marginally less so than “the ATO wants to audit you”. Having just finished our nightly kindergarten reader, she caught me off guard and unprepared.

“I really want a big sister,” said Maggie, her little voice wobbling with tears. I knew it was coming at some point. But are you ever really ready for the guilt only a six-year-old is capable of inflicting?

I explained to her that she is lucky because not only does she have a big sister, but she also has five big brothers – not including the one I work with. (See what I did there?) “I want a big sister who lives with us,” she countered. The fact that her step-siblings are all grown-ups, half of them living in Queensland, was not lost on her. And so the ball was back in my court.

“Are you ever ready for the guilt only a six-year-old can inflict?” (Picture: Daniel Nadel)

Now, I’m sure there are a multitude of books written by various experts to tell us how best to handle this kind of question, but I thought I’d take the less obvious route and instead sell the benefits of being an only child to her.

As the middle child myself, with an older sister and younger brother, I have first-hand experience in the competitive world of sibling rivalry. I have jockeyed for position and power in my own family since conception. For example: there’s barely a baby photo of me in existence. Not so for the darling firstborn or the baby of the family.

Don’t get me wrong, I love my brother and sister dearly... now. That wasn’t always the case. Ironically, it was only after we’d grown up, moved out and gone our separate ways that we grew closer.

My mother was the second-youngest of 17 children! They were a farming family from Kingaroy in Queensland and, as you can imagine, there wasn’t a lot of money to go around but according to my mum, there was plenty of love.

Wait. I’m supposed to be arguing the benefits of being an only child. Where was I? Right. As an only child you don’t have to share. No hand-me-down clothes, no fights over toys and no vain attempts to garner the undivided attention of a parent.

Sonia Kruger features in this Sunday’s Stellar.

Research has shown that only children tend to have high self-esteem and typically perform better in school. And, contrary to the bratty stereotype, only children are just as social as those with siblings.

Anyway, I thought I’d made a pretty compelling case, but to seal the deal, my only other tactic was to normalise. As I explained to my little girl, lots of children don’t have brothers or sisters.

A recent study found the number of women who reached the end of their child-bearing years with only one child nearly doubled in the last generation, from 8 per cent in 1986 to 14 per cent in 2016.

There’s no doubt being an only child has its pros and cons, and even though Marilyn Monroe may have once said, “Sisters make the best friends in the world,” I know that some day my sociable, intelligent and kind only child will make a best friend who is as close as a sister.

Sonia Kruger will host The Voice Australia, coming soon to Seven Network and 7plus.