birth order tendencies

After ten years of teaching, and spending many hours with many ten year olds, I believe there is great merit behind the idea of birth order behavioral traits. Give me two weeks with a child, and I can probably identify their place in the litter of youngins. This year I have a group of middles; an absolutely charming lot. Tonight I gave pause to the idea that my own children are living up to the supposed expectation of their own place in the family. Mind you, this is only a tidbit of the evidence.

exhibit A: Maddi has already determined the color of her parachute. I'm not sure what color it is, but it ends in "ologist" and requires schooling through the 26th grade. She has already scoped out her dream Land Rover and she knows how much it will set her back. She has researched the average hourly wage of a dozen or so medical fields. The girl is on task. Good thing she loves math and science. Go Madge and keep bringing home the A's. You make your mom and dad proud!

exhibit B: Hillary wears a white hoodie that says, "GO WITH THE FLOW." She doesn't wear it to remind herself to chill, but only to spread the good word. This girl is super casual. She's been laid back since birth. She can amuse herself to no end. I'll find her legoing until her fingers bleed, or petshopping in her room for hours. She casually keeps a journal and writes poetry. We try not to let her more-than-easy temperament go unnoticed. She is a gem. For the last two weeks, she has quietly curled up in the front room (home teacher room) to read 321 pages. Finally, someone is using it for the expressed purpose that I intended. It warms my heart see that chair enjoy a reader like it deserves. Hill, you make your mom and dad proud!

exhibit C: Little Henry. The last baby always gets to stay the baby. McDonald's? sure. Print color images of every Power Ranger? I guess so. Three jelly sandwiches before noon? of course. Unlimited cookies at Grandma's? One for each year, baby. You get the idea. The wonderful thing about Henry is that none of this goes to his head. He is one grounded baby. Stay golden, Little Henry. You make your mom and dad proud!

everyone loves a puppy