Poll
Question:
Where are you in the birth order of your family?
Option 1: oldest
Option 2: middle
Option 3: youngest
Option 4: only child
Option 5: Other - explain
I was reading an interesting article (http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/08/health/08klas.html (http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/08/health/08klas.html)) on birth order and how important it is or isn't in determining a child's personality. I am a middle child, and I really don't think that I am a "typical" middle child to be honest. I'm not sure if that's because of the unusual circumstances that I grew up in (middle of three biological child, second from the youngest of six kids in my foster home), or if it's as the author suggests: birth order only affects you if you let it do so.
Where are you in the birth order, and do you fit the personality type as listed here? http://www.childdevelopmentinfo.com/development/birth_order.htm (http://www.childdevelopmentinfo.com/development/birth_order.htm) And do you think where you are in the family compared to your siblings has helped to make you who you are today?
Sure my youngest sister and I allied against my middle sister. However time has change things. :)
Typical:
* Pampered and spoiled.
* Feels incompetent because adults are more capable.
* Is center of attention; often enjoys position. May feel special.
* Self-centered.
* Relies on service from others rather than own efforts
* Feels unfairly treated when doesn't get own way.
* May refuse to cooperate.
* Plays "divide and conquer" to get own way.
Reality:
* Feels incompetent because adults are more capable.
* Self-centered.
* Feels unfairly treated when doesn't get own way.
* May refuse to cooperate.
Adding one:
increased sense of autonomy.
Being left to yourself means you learn to things yourself and be the one blamed whenever something goes wrong.
I fit the first child pretty good if you mix some aspect of the Only Child.
Quote from: merithyn on September 11, 2009, 01:05:31 PM
I am a middle child, and I really don't think that I am a "typical" middle child to be honest.
Of course not; middle children are bastards.
Quote from: Grey Fox on September 11, 2009, 01:09:10 PM
I fit the first child pretty good if you mix some aspect of the Only Child.
The only child is just like the first child turned up to 11 anyway.
True. I'm a first child that had a little sister for 7 years & then became an Only child.
Third of four. I can't say exactly how middle kids are different, but we do have a different outlook on life and we are a dieing breed. Married one!
Youngest of three and the birth order stuff does not fit me particularly.
I am the 4th of 7 children. Thus a very middle child. I liked it, older children to protect you , and younger children to bully.
I'm the youngest child of a youngest child of an almost youngest child (like 11th of 13 or somesuch) and I am extremely intelligent, empathic, witty, pleasant, dependable and kind of cute. Make of this what you will.
I consider my self a youngest child but I have 2 very younger half siblings from my dads second marriage. I don't really have much to do with them so it doesn't really feel like I have any younger siblings. I definitely fit the younger child stereotype. I'm such a baby and a brat.
Quote from: Grey Fox on September 11, 2009, 01:13:57 PM
True. I'm a first child that had a little sister for 7 years & then became an Only child.
Huh? :unsure:
Quote from: The Brain on September 11, 2009, 01:43:59 PM
I'm the youngest child of a youngest child of an almost youngest child (like 11th of 13 or somesuch)
In which direction? Matrilineally, I'm the eldest child of eldest children going back 4 generations. I was supposed to be a girl. :Embarrass:
Quote from: garbon on September 11, 2009, 02:02:34 PM
Quote from: The Brain on September 11, 2009, 01:43:59 PM
I'm the youngest child of a youngest child of an almost youngest child (like 11th of 13 or somesuch)
In which direction? Matrilineally, I'm the eldest child of eldest children going back 4 generations.
The one that matters.
Quote from: The Brain on September 11, 2009, 02:03:04 PM
The one that matters.
Well fathers don't play an important role in development so...
Quote from: garbon on September 11, 2009, 02:03:45 PM
Quote from: The Brain on September 11, 2009, 02:03:04 PM
The one that matters.
Well fathers don't play an important role in development so...
Of course they don't if you're gay.
Quote from: The Brain on September 11, 2009, 02:07:06 PM
Of course they don't if you're gay.
My father was the one doing the raising.
Quote from: garbon on September 11, 2009, 02:09:59 PM
Quote from: The Brain on September 11, 2009, 02:07:06 PM
Of course they don't if you're gay.
My father was the one doing the raising.
So... you're undeveloped? :unsure:
I am the youngest of 3 boys, and am a pretty typical youngest. It helped me develop a precocious sense of humor that was lost on most other kids my age, and it also taught me some valuable bullying skills.
My wife is the oldest of 8, and is quite the typical big sister-- bossy & overly protective.
Quote from: The Brain on September 11, 2009, 01:43:59 PM
Make of this what you will.
Youngest children are delusional? :unsure:
I'm the middle child. Though now I'm the youngest I guess, since my kid brother died when he was eleven, and I was seventeen. Man, that is brutal for a family. As I got older I realized that the loss of a child can so tear up a family that marriages break up. I had to give great credit to my parents for going through that and staying together, remaining a committed couple. My aunt and uncle also lost a child, at a very young age.
:(
Quote from: KRonn on September 11, 2009, 02:22:29 PM
I'm the middle child. Though now I'm the youngest I guess, since my kid brother died when he was eleven, and I was seventeen. Man, that is brutal for a family. As I got older I realized that the loss of a child can so tear up a family that marriages break up. I had to give great credit to my parents for going through that and staying together, remaining a committed couple. My aunt and uncle also lost a child, at a very young age.
:(
Yeah, I think my sister's death was the root cause of my parent's divorce 20 years later.
Quote from: Peter Wiggin on September 11, 2009, 02:21:46 PM
Quote from: The Brain on September 11, 2009, 01:43:59 PM
Make of this what you will.
Youngest children are delusional? :unsure:
:rolleyes: He wa a h8er boi, I said see ya l8er boi.
Interesting, I had a sister who died as well... :mellow:
I wonder how many of us have deceased siblings. :unsure:
I am the oldest child, with one brother who is five years younger (he would have been the third child if my sister had not died).
You folks with deceased sibs: what did they die of?
My wife had her older brother die when they were children. Leiukemia. Even now 20 years later you can tell it was hugely traumatic for them. The kids were sent to live with some relatives for awhile because her dad really lost it for awhile (I still don't know all the details there). My wife still blames herself for her brother's death because she was the bone marrow donor, even though she know's that's silly.
Quote from: Ideologue on September 11, 2009, 01:58:16 PM
Quote from: Grey Fox on September 11, 2009, 01:13:57 PM
True. I'm a first child that had a little sister for 7 years & then became an Only child.
Huh? :unsure:
My parents are divorced. She lives with my mom, I live with my dad. We don't see eachother much.
Typical, only the first 2 kids and the last one are counted.
Quote from: Maximus on September 11, 2009, 04:06:05 PM
Typical, only the first 2 kids and the last one are counted.
There is a note about middle children of larger families.
Not a middle child either.
Sorry, but I don't care. :console:
Quote from: Maximus on September 11, 2009, 04:11:57 PM
Not a middle child either.
I would say that you count as a youngest child, really. You ARE the youngest boy, and the ninth of ten kids.
Quote from: garbon on September 11, 2009, 04:17:19 PM
Sorry, but I don't care. :console:
Why did you feel the need to respond then?
Quote from: Maximus on September 11, 2009, 04:23:15 PM
Why did you feel the need to respond then?
If I didn't express how little I cared, how would you ever know? :o
Quote from: garbon on September 11, 2009, 04:25:37 PM
If I didn't express how little I cared, how would you ever know? :o
Why would I care?
"Acts as if in race, trying to catch up or overtake first child."
I quickly realised I'd never catch up on my sister, nor did I ever really want to. Maybe because of...
"If first child is "good," second may become "bad." Develops abilities first child doesn't exhibit. If first child successful, may feel uncertain of self and abilities."
I'm lazy, she's ambitious. Omg! The internet is right!
Quote from: Maximus on September 11, 2009, 04:28:22 PM
Why would I care?
Who said that you should or thinks you would?
Quote from: garbon on September 11, 2009, 04:34:55 PM
Who said that you should or thinks you would?
If you find out, let me know.
Quote from: garbon on September 11, 2009, 04:34:55 PM
Quote from: Maximus on September 11, 2009, 04:28:22 PM
Why would I care?
Who said that you should or thinks you would?
:mad:
All right, stop it. Don't make me stop this car and come back there!
Quote from: merithyn on September 11, 2009, 04:36:38 PM
:mad:
All right, stop it. Don't make me stop this car and come back there!
Are we there yet?
Quote from: Malthus on September 11, 2009, 03:27:21 PM
You folks with deceased sibs: what did they die of?
In my case: she basically died due to medical malpractice. When she was being born there was something wrong with her lungs/breathing but whatever the OBGYN did, aside from misdiagnosing the problem, severely damaged her heart and she died 14 months later having never left the NICU. My parents won a major malpractice suit against Albert Einstein Medical Center which got a bit of news coverage at the time, mainly beause their attorney is Arlen Specter's son Shanin.
Oldest and I suppose it does fit.
My (half-)sister is almost 16 years younger, that makes me both oldest and only child I guess.
Only child, probably fairly typical.
I'm the oldest. I was only child until 8 :p
Oh and I'm having a Brother, just 22 years of difference.
Quote from: Malthus on September 11, 2009, 03:27:21 PM
You folks with deceased sibs: what did they die of?
My younger brother had an aneurism in his brain, or some type of thing like that of a broken blood vessel. He came in from shoveling snow one day, after a snowstorm, with a headache. My mother gave him an aspirin but he went into unconsiousness as we thought he was sleeping. Rushed to the hospital, was in Boston Children's Hospital for about a week. What a horrific week that was; doctors couldn't do anything. My parents were all beside themselves, all of us were, aunts, uncles.
I even saw my brother being transported in the hospital. I wasn't expecting that at all. I went into an elevator, and the docs/nurses wheeled in my brother to bring him somewhere. That was kind of a shock to me. I just looked and didn't do or say anything, no idea what to say, if anything.
Moreso when I was younger. Now I don't fit any molds.
ps what do people make of the Languish stat that the overwhelming majority of us are the Eldest Sibling in our families? what does that say about us? We like to make Timmay hit himself?
Quote from: KRonn on September 12, 2009, 01:56:39 PM
Quote from: Malthus on September 11, 2009, 03:27:21 PM
You folks with deceased sibs: what did they die of?
My younger brother had an aneurism in his brain, or some type of thing like that of a broken blood vessel. He came in from shoveling snow one day, after a snowstorm, with a headache. My mother gave him an aspirin but he went into unconsiousness as we thought he was sleeping. Rushed to the hospital, was in Boston Children's Hospital for about a week. What a horrific week that was; doctors couldn't do anything. My parents were all beside themselves, all of us were, aunts, uncles.
I even saw my brother being transported in the hospital. I wasn't expecting that at all. I went into an elevator, and the docs/nurses wheeled in my brother to bring him somewhere. That was kind of a shock to me. I just looked and didn't do or say anything, no idea what to say, if anything.
I'm sorry. That's terrible. How old were you?
Quote from: Malthus on September 11, 2009, 03:27:21 PM
You folks with deceased sibs: what did they die of?
My stepbrother shot himself in the head.
I don't feel like any of the birth order stuff really applies to me. I don't even know exactly how to place myself, anyway--my stepbrother was 22 years older than me, and my half-brother is 7 years younger. I think that makes me more of an only child than anything else, really.
Quote from: Korea on September 12, 2009, 04:57:59 PM
Quote from: KRonn on September 12, 2009, 01:56:39 PM
Quote from: Malthus on September 11, 2009, 03:27:21 PM
You folks with deceased sibs: what did they die of?
My younger brother had an aneurism in his brain, or some type of thing like that of a broken blood vessel. He came in from shoveling snow one day, after a snowstorm, with a headache. My mother gave him an aspirin but he went into unconsiousness as we thought he was sleeping. Rushed to the hospital, was in Boston Children's Hospital for about a week. What a horrific week that was; doctors couldn't do anything. My parents were all beside themselves, all of us were, aunts, uncles.
I even saw my brother being transported in the hospital. I wasn't expecting that at all. I went into an elevator, and the docs/nurses wheeled in my brother to bring him somewhere. That was kind of a shock to me. I just looked and didn't do or say anything, no idea what to say, if anything.
I'm sorry. That's terrible. How old were you?
I was eighteen.
Quote from: BuddhaRhubarb on September 12, 2009, 04:48:26 PM
ps what do people make of the Languish stat that the overwhelming majority of us are the Eldest Sibling in our families? what does that say about us? We like to make Timmay hit himself?
I'm the eldest child in my family too. :contract:
Quote from: Caliga on September 11, 2009, 02:54:32 PM
Interesting, I had a sister who died as well... :mellow:
I wonder how many of us have deceased siblings. :unsure:
I am the oldest child, with one brother who is five years younger (he would have been the third child if my sister had not died).
My younger sister (and her not quite 2 month old baby, and 3 closest friends all died in a car crash ...bad weather, bad bad highway, old drivers in other vehicle, no booze in either) in 1993 She was 6 years younger than me, and my brother is 6 years younger than that. It was different being the eldest of three. I felt more "family responsibility" then, than I do now. Me and my bro are sympatico and chummy, but only see each other every few years, talk rarely on the phone.
I think I would have been close if my sister had grown up (she was 20) as we had already started getting past the juvenile shit when she died, and were beginning to relate as adult siblings.
Quote from: jimmy olsen on September 12, 2009, 07:20:10 PM
I'm the eldest child in my family too. :contract:
I despair for your siblings with you being the one who is supposed to look out for them.
I'm the youngest of four. I don't fit the profile at all.
Quote from: Grey Fox on September 11, 2009, 03:44:49 PM
Quote from: Ideologue on September 11, 2009, 01:58:16 PM
Quote from: Grey Fox on September 11, 2009, 01:13:57 PM
True. I'm a first child that had a little sister for 7 years & then became an Only child.
Huh? :unsure:
My parents are divorced. She lives with my mom, I live with my dad. We don't see eachother much.
That's not so bad. I thought you were one of the (apparently many :huh: ) folks who've had a sibling die.
The same thing that happened to you and your sis happened with me and mine. When my mom died, she came back to live with us, of course, but I'm not that close with her.