That’s the million dollar question. At this point I’m so completely miffed with where my the whole blogging process that I could scream.
I’m the second of four. The order goes: girl, girl, boy, girl. Ironically enough, my older sister’s name is Beth and she’s nothing like LW’s Beth. She has the tendency to be condescending and patronizing. Though, she does this less as we all get older. Anyway, she’s a smart person and always got good grades in school. Mr. Ecklehoffer thought she was a genius. Maybe she was. He used to call me Beth which drove me crazy. Names are very important and when someone gets your name wrong it negates your identity. Just spelling it wrong doesn’t count. Afterall, who can calculate the infintesimal variations on “Christie?”
Though I digress. Birth order does matter. The oldest child sets the stage for all the rest to come. If he/she walks at 8 months then, the others should do the same. How about this one, “Your sister Beth eats fried chicken. Why won’t you eat it?” My dad must have hated having to stop at McDonald’s to get me a hamburger everytime they got a bucket of chicken. If he forgot to stop I sulked and cried until he eventually went back out and got a hamburger. It must have been tiring to have to go back again after working all day, but he did it because he loved me. It didn’t matter that I was the second born. He loved me for me, which believe me isn’t easy. My dad used to say he didn’t know why he loved me so much because I was such a pain.
By the time the third, fourth and fifth kids come along, parents are just physically and mentally worn out. Their bodies can’t take anymore mileage and their brains have shut down. They’ll do whatever the kid wants. By this time, expectations are lower and wallets are fatter. Also, child-rearing has softened them considerably as they are more tolerant of imperfections. Additionally, they no longer expect that “Little Johnny” will find a cure for cancer, run marathons and be the first president to achieve world peace?
Birth order affects how childre are treated and may play a part in the formation of personality. However, the individual has the repsonsiblity for deciding who they will be.
THE END