So, I am the youngest of three children. I am one of the youngest of my cousins on my Dad's side. He was the youngest in his family. My Mom wasn't the youngest in her family and I am closer to the top of that cousin-age bracket. What's the difference/point?
Well, I've started thinking about how people are different for being at one end of a generation. For me, I'm the youngest and I'd say I have some "youngest sibling" tendencies. I'm shy because I have two older, more outgoing, siblings. I connect with a wider range of aged people, because I spent time around a lot of differently aged people, from my siblings friends to little kids at my parent's friends houses. I am pretty passive, cause I saw my siblings be non-passive.
There is just a lot of things that I see connected to my relative age. But I look at others, who are the oldest, and see some oldest sibling traits as well. I just wonder if anyone else thinks about these things when they meet someone. Because I do, and I think it helps define people and make them understandable sometimes. Just something to think about.
Sunday, March 29, 2009
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this is actually something i think about a lot, only people tell me i'm full of shit. i say i'm a pretty classic oldest sibling. ditto danny.
ReplyDelete"classic oldest sibling"? What does that mean? I'm the eldest of my siblings, but I don't see myself as set apart from them.
ReplyDeleteThat said, my little brother (youngest) is very different in terms of personality, etc. I would say he's affected by having older sibs.
"relative age"--Unintentional? Delicious, regardless.
ReplyDeleteMy relatives on my mum's side seem to come exclusively in pairs of the same gender, which is quite odd. I really enjoy thinking about what makes different people tick, and why they are the way they are.
It's interesting looking at Jamie, Danny, and I and then at our younger siblings as we are all the same ages. I am not going to speak for their siblings, but my parents were much more lenient with my brother and therefore he has a sense of ownership I never had.
ReplyDeleteYeah, and I get you on the passive younger sibling with (a) very non-passive sibling.
ReplyDelete*thing
ReplyDeleteI analyze these things pretty often. We have some family friends who are younger than Amy and I, but have roughly the same age difference between time (Amy and I are three years apart, these girls are 2.5 years apart). I mean, I'm sure it's more than just birth order, but it's ridiculous how much the older girl and I have in common- we're more focused on academics than our siblings, more into reading, generally a bit more introverted, also we are both choir girls. Amy and the younger girl are both social butterflies, very outgoing, and a bit more into (playing) sports than the older one.
ReplyDeleteAlso, I read somewhere that older siblings tend to click better with adults- I'd definitely say this is true for me. Out of all my parents' friends' children, I am the oldest, so I'm used to being around adults more than children..also helps that I babysat for a lot of these friends and had to do the whole small talk thing with them.
So yeah...long post, but there's what I think!