Family of Children

the oldest child tends to be high achieving

unlike the youngest, who is manipulative

so very charming

and stuck in the middle...

the peacemaker, an attempt at harmony

among my family of children

Author's Note

Reviews

[Chris Shaw]

An interesting thought. I was the eldest of five. The boys were the high achievers, second and fifth. third and fourth my sisters were nurses. Me, well I was the organizer and still am. We all have vastly different personalities. Two introverts and three extroverts. But one thing we all share, we are extremely close.

Chris

[Davidgeo]

That you still share the familial bond is all that really matters. It is precious and damn near impossible to replicate. Having two nurses in the family must be, interesting. Nurses, depending upon their specialty, can be fundamentally crazy people... much like doctors and paramedics. I feel bad for the caregivers of our society. Until I remember, more than half of them are psychopaths. It's what makes them so good at treating everyone the same (almost).

Are you one of the extroverts among the five?

[Chris Shaw]

No. I am an introvert. The quiet family organizer:) The responsible one !

[Davidgeo]

Have you been an introvert the whole time or was this a trait you adapted yourself into due to circumstance?

I am not surprised you are the responsible one. It shouldn't be surprising to anyone in a family like that... you were forced to grow up a little faster (depending upon the age gap of course)

[Chris Shaw]

Always an introvert and yes I had to grow up fast. There are 13 years between me and the youngest. My mum had three under three and a half. Then a gap. I was nine when number four came along and thirteen when the youngest arrived. By then I was cooking for all the family and keeping house while my mum was in hospital with the new baby.

[Davidgeo]

You lost a little part of your youth to gain an earlier understanding of adulthood. Some people don't handle that well. They learn too young things they do not have the tools to understand yet. It is one of the primary reasons behind a lot of personality disorders... maladaptive coping mechanisms (learning things you can't unlearn without guidance)

[Gee]

I was the third of seven but was nicknamed the golden child by my six siblings as our single parent mum supposedly favoured me over them. I think it was bollocks :))

[KWP]

Being a middle child I have to agree with the above ... I always think the middle child goes under the radar which I have often used to my advantage.

[Papaya]

This is true of my family. I'm in the middle.
Older sibling is definitely the over achiever and the younger is quite charming.
Not manipulative. I don't think? Not always.

[Davidgeo]

The youngest usually has to wing it a little as the older siblings have already figured things out... they have the fundamental advantage. Which makes them feel less guilty when they take advantage. It all evens out though, there's nothing wrong with a little familial emotional abuse among siblings if you don't mind a little personality disorder and boundary issues. It can be a pretty good time, sometimes.

[Papaya]

My brothers have never emotionally abused me.
They've always been very protective. Maybe it's different for me as the sister between two brothers but they're awesome and we're very close. Nothing dysfunctional there at all.

[Davidgeo]

That's good. Functional is always better.