birth order

I've always been fascinated by birth order and how this plays into a person's personality and view on life. By birth, I technically am the oldest in my family; I was born 4 years before my brother. But, in reality, I was an only child for the first 6 years of my life as my brother is adopted and became a member of our family when he was 2 years old.

I found this website that gives the most concise description of birth order.

For me personally, I see many of the first born tendencies within myself. I took this fun little quiz that revealed the following about me:

At your darkest moments, you feel frustrated. At work and school, you do best when you're organizing. When you love someone, you tend to worry about them.
In friendship, you are emotional and sympathetic. Your ideal careers are: radio announcer, finance, teaching, ministry, and management. You will leave your mark on the world with organizational leadership, maybe as the author of self-help books.

I often will joke with my parents that I'm thankful for their decision to adopt my brother. (gee, thanks, mom & dad for giving me a little brother!!) Seriously though, I am thankful I have a brother. The sibling relationship is one that is unmatched in any other human interaction. One of my only child friends commented one time how surprising it was to hear comments made by one sibling to another that only a sibling could possibly get away with saying. It seemed an odd comment to hear, but then I began thinking about how true that statement really is...think about it (for those of you with a brother or sister)--has there ever been a time that you said something to your sibling but would never dare say to anyone else? The relationship shapes and molds you in such a way that no other relationship could. From a young age, you learn how to deal with emotions like jealousy & competition, protection & defense, but then let's not forget compromise & teamwork! :)

My parents come from larger families--my dad the second of five, but the oldest boy--my mom the second of four, but the oldest girl. I thought how birth order affected me was interesting until I started reading up on how it affects children in larger families. And then, not only does birth order affect you & your siblings, but it plays a part in your marriage relationship as well! For instance, two oldests will probably have a more volatile relationship (both struggle for leadership), whereas two middle children may have a relationship where neither wants to argue or disagree because both tend to be peacemakers. Ideally, opposites should marry: a first with a middle or youngest, or middle with a youngest, etc....and onlys? Well, I suppose who ever gets stuck with them should be pretty flexible about getting their own way... ;)

But, having said all that...I will conclude that birth order is not the only thing that should be taken into account when choosing a mate or even determining how someone will react in a certain situation or relationship. It is all just a fascinating look at life and how we all move through it! :)