Today is Middle Child Day! I am not a middle child, I am a first born, but I do have a middle child and she quite often reminds me of that fact. I got curious and looked around for some generalizations about birth order and found this I have to say that my daughter is pretty much all those middle born things. My first born and last born pretty much fit the list as well. My youngest is not at all outgoing, though. I am most of those things in the first born list. DH is a last born and that list is fairly accurate for him. There is a guy I follow on FB and TikTok who posts the funniest videos comparing first/middle/last. They are usually pretty spot on, too!! Which one are you? Do you think the list is accurate or no?
I love talking birth order! That list is definitely accurate for my firstborn. DH and I are both fourth of five and I think it’s one of the reasons our marriage works well.
I've always thought the effect of birth order on personality and temperment was interesting, too. I'm an oldest, and I think the list is accurate for me and my oldest. My youngest is an interesting case--she's a youngest, but she comes after a middle child with special needs who acts younger than she does. The middle child is spot on for her. My husband is an only but fits less than half of the only child criteria.
I'm an oldest and this is pretty accurate. I was always told "you're the oldest so you have to set a good example". I hated hearing that!!!
I'm the oldest and fit the pattern. Olivia @LivyBug is also the oldest and fits it as well. I think Daniel certainly fits in the youngest.
I am a middle child and the description is very accurate. I have a middle child granddaughter and I can see her becoming more and more like me in a sense.
We don't fit the pattern, but with my husband and I, as well as my son, all being autistic I wouldn't expect us to.
Only child here and only about half of those things fit me. My mother was a middle child and always felt left out. Mom was more of the people-pleaser. Dad was in the middle of 14 kids... try to determine that! I will say that he could be rebellious (but not in a bad way) and was always social.
I’m a first-born and have some of the traits, but since I had an abusive mother, I have a lot of middle-child traits as well such as adaptable, people-pleaser, and peacemaker. My husband and I are both first-born so something our marriage gets a little stormy. My children definitely match these descriptions pretty well.
I’m an only child and definitely have at least some of the traits but see myself having a few traits from each of the birth orders to be honest
Oldest and only here. Totally fit the mould. Weirdly married the baby, his his baby brother married the oldest in her family. Opposites attract?
I am a last born, but that list does not accurately describe me at all. I fit more of the middle child descriptions. My sister who is older, often gets mistaken for my younger sister because I went off to college first and then she joined me two years later. She does have a lot of the First Born traits too though. It's weird. Lol.
I’m the second of five and fit this description more lol! According to a study by MIT economist Joseph Doyle, second-born children are indeed more likely to exhibit rebellious behavior. And that goes double for second-born boys. ... And the second, later-born children have role models who are slightly irrational two-year-olds, you know, their older siblings," Doyle Second-Born Children Are More Likely To Be Rebellious, According To Science - Southern Living
DH and I are both first borns. I would say the majority of the list fits one or both of us, although DH more closely than me. He is oldest of 4 though, and I only have one sibling. I don't really see that either of my kids fit into any of the lists at all. I did get a kick out of some of the Tik-Toks though. The oldest and youngest are spot on in the "when your kids have a question" video. Kaylee cracked up at the "when your kids are bored" video, saying that I am the oldest child and they are the middle child in that one.
I'm an only child and a few of those fit me (I was mature for my age, I spent a lot of time alone, reading, which I think helped my vocabulary and I spent a lot of time around the adults so was comfortable carrying on conversations with older people), the same with my 2 girls, a few fit them. They do definitely have different personalities and as children, the oldest was more outgoing and my youngest was quieter.
Hmmm, I fit the first born list (first of 6). My husband was the middle child, but he was also the only son, so he has a lot of the first born list. Our children -- well they sort of match. The oldest (son) has most of the oldest traits. Middle (son) fits most of the middle traits, although when he was the youngest of 2, he had the last child traits of being very social & outgoing. The baby (daughter) is a combo of the first and last born traits. The daughter is highly self-motivated but is also very inclusive, caring, and social. My sons are 6 years apart and the other 2 are 5 years apart. I think that has an impact - less sibling competition. What I find interesting is how much of our personalities are environment-shaped instead of inborn-shaped. This was very evident in my daughter, as she was adopted at 21 months. She has always been a determined, self-motivated person (inborn) but the rest of her personality has been shaped by us, as I saw the changes over time. Of course, my other 2 changed too, but with her it was more evident.
Firstborn and I pretty much match the list. My firstborn son does to, now that he's older, but he's not cautious, will never be cautious, he scares me to death. He was also very rebellious as a teen, but so was his sister ...
It really is interesting isn't it! And after reading about first born (me) and last born (dh), it explains a lot about our marriage Super interesting. I had never given much thought to how a child with special needs would fit in to the birth order. I need to think about some of the families that I know well who also have children with special needs Oh yes! I heard that many times. I also remember that my younger sister got to do a lot of things way earlier than I did because they'd already been through it with me and were ok with whatever it was lol
I totally get that! I had honestly never given much thought to birth order in relation to the autistic community, but it totally makes sense that you all would not fit in a particular category. 14 kids!! I cannot even imagine! I would think the order would be always confusing It's really interesting to me how family dynamics would affect the list, but I can totally see how living with an abusive mother would lead you to be adaptable, people pleasing, and a peacemaker. I'm sorry you had to go through that. I can see where an only child would take on traits from each. My youngest kind of fits in with the only child, I think because his siblings are so much older than he is and he's basically been an only child for the last 8 years or so.
Evidently lol. I'm an oldest that married the baby. It's interesting for sure lol My younger sister has the first born traits that I don't have and I have the last born traits that she doesn't lol It is weird! That was super interesting! My younger sister was more rebellious in her younger years, but as we got older, I became the "wilder" one Yes!! The question one is definitely spot on!! There are a couple on Facebook that I can't find on TikTok that are totally spot on, too... "How Your Kids Put Away Silverware" and "Your Kids on the Fourth of July"