Friday, December 21, 2012

Birth Order and YOU

What number child are you in "the pecking order" of your family?  Are you the first born. . ."the love child" ?  Or are you "the baby of the family"?  [Btw, Peter are I are both the youngest child in our families. . .]

Do you think the birth order has effect on your personality formation?  on a lot of important stages in your life, etc?

Here is a simple little "fun test"  - so called ;-)) -which may get you thinking about who and how you are in your family.

http://www.webmd.com/parenting/rm-quiz-birth-order?ecd=wnl_men_121812&ctr=wnl-men-121812_ld-stry&mb=


If you care to note your comments on any/all of the areas raised in your thinking, etc., it might be helpful for me in collating ideas.  If I use any ideas you might care to share with the blog, I will never in any way specify you.  I might just use something in general, and in passing.

Thanks for any help you might want to give me here.

peace ~~
             JustinO

13 comments:

jimm said...

Im almost genius, scored 8/9 correct!

I'm the 4th born of 6. And the 4th son. I guess that makes me a middler. Poor mom had 4 boys in 7 years.

I learned what NOT to do by watching the others. Played sports with reckless abandon. A friend and I would secretly spend Saturdays miles from home exploring the backwoods, this starting at about age 8. So it was easy to sneak under 'the radar.'

But i could not match my brothers for academics, nor talents. And for some unknown reason, i like ppl who are smarter than me.

J said...

I really don't know how accurate these stereotypes can be. Among the four siblings in my family the two middle children, a boy and a girl, were obviously the two alpha personalities of the group. If first borns are more likely to succeed it is purely because their parents burdened them with higher expectations. That might not be a bad thing.

JustinO'Shea said...

THANKS, J. . for the Voice of Experience. I think your comment on #1 child is dead on!

You think the #1 can turn to rebellion. . .dead tired of measuring up to parents' wants and desires and NEEDS. . . Like the Wannabe Tom-Brady QB dad forcing Son #1 into football do dad can live out his dreams in #1 son. . . who rebelliously screams "Love me for who I am. . .not for what YOU want to be!!!"

Richard said...

Welp, I'm a #1 and a lawyer, Natonal Merit Scholar, PBK, summa cum laude. My #2 brother was just average in school and never went to college.

Because I had two women in the household (mother and grandmother)who spent LOTS of time helping me to develop my intellectual interests, I naturally leaned towards matters of the mind. My brother, 15 months younger, was pretty much allowed to play most of the time when he was a child.

There are some truths in those stereotypes.

J said...

My guess is that the first child that doesn't measure up is more likely to retreat into a depressed lassitude, and younger ones are more likely to truly rebel, but that's just a notion.

Gary Kelly said...

Jimm is smarter than I... I scored 7 out of 9. But I'm not sure what it all means. I was the third sibling from four, but there was a gap of 10 years between the second and me, and 14 years between the first and me. Another 3 between my younger bro and me. Moreover, I was an "accident"... faulty condom. I certainly didn't fit in, and had little in common with any other member of the family. Rogue gene, probably. I got used to the idea that I was an oddball and accepted it. Being gay confirmed it.

Paradoxically, I was more intellectually capable than my siblings but they were far more successful. They followed set career paths whereas I was all over the place like a dog's breakfast. However, even at 68, I still reckon the fat lady ain't sung yet. :)

GreginAdelaide said...

Well, I read the somments ehre before I took the test...so quickly realised I could bias my answers to get a high score... but I answered it from observation of my own family... one younger brother...and got 5/9 and then...the most strange comment with the score...and I quote

"A middling score. Try taking this quiz again to move it up."

So, not a good quiz really, and I'm not sure what it really told me.... I guess in the main, birth order can affect who we are...obviously the preson that designed it had access to some data.

But, apart from pointing out that order can and does affect who we are...there are many more factors that over-ride it for sure...as in my case.

I wonder if birth order affects our gayness?
Now THAT would be interesting.... I have my ideas on it.

You got me htinking again Justin...dangerous...thanks.

JustinO'Shea said...

OK, Greg. .you are wondering IF. . . . k. . .what about HOW? ;-)

Richard said...

Greg,

There has been quite a bit of research done on the subject of birth order and homosexuality. Here is one link: http://www.webmd.com/sex-relationships/news/20060626/birth-order-may-affect-homosexuality

Richard

GreginAdelaide said...

Now that, Justin, is a million dollar question.
I simply have no idea....and have pondered my own family and situation for many years...with no clue whatsoever.

Gary Kelly said...

For what it's worth, Greg, I knew plenty of gay guys who had no siblings at all.

Meanwhile, as a kid, I should have realized something weird was happening when I began to take an interest in the shape of people's nostrils.

You think I'm kidding?

JustinO'Shea said...

Curious about being interested in nostrils? Not weird at all. It shows you as a youngster with diversified interests, intellectual and dimensional curiosity, able to note the diversity in the species. . . .is that all weird? ;-)

JustinO'Shea said...

Ooopssps. . . photo is back. .aren't you glad?