Dissection of my family birth order

This blog post is generated from a recent post I put on Facebook about my desire to have had a middle child so he could not help with the chores that Ethan is too busy to do because of homework. A beefy 9 year old who could load a dishwasher and put a mower. We should have thought this 9 year age gap thing through a little more.

So my younger sister responded tagging one of my elder sisters as a middle child and I told her she wasn't a middle child and she replied back that out of the first four she was. Which I guess if you broke it down into parent order she's correct but what about habit order? It made me think about birth order psychology and how it breaks down to each of us.

The Achiever, the Peacemaker, and The Life of the Party

The Achiever- The Oldest

If you are a firstborn, you are probably a high achiever who seeks approval, dominates and is that perfectionist who uses up all of the oxygen in the room.  Because they have had so much control and attention from their first-time parents, they are over-responsible, reliable, well-behaved, careful and smaller versions of their own parents.

The Peacemaker aka The Middle Child

If you are a middle child, you are probably understanding, cooperative and flexible, yet competitive. You are concerned with fairness.  The personality trait that defines you as a middle child will be opposite of that of your eldest and youngest sibling. But those wonderful social skills that you have learned as the middle child -- negotiating and navigating within your family structure -- can prepare you for an entrepreneurial role on a large scene.

The Life of the Party aka The Baby

As the youngest child, you have more freedom than the other siblings and, in a sense, are more independent. As the youngest child, you also have a lot in common with your oldest sibling, as both of you have been made to feel special and entitled.  You've learned how to seduce the crowd with charm and likability.

And because I think this applies to our family The Lone Wolf..

If you're an only child, you grow up surrounded by adults, and therefore are more verbal and often more mature. This allows for gains in intelligence that exceed other birth order differences. Having spent so much time alone, you are resourceful, creative and confident in your independence.

So reading all of that how do my siblings and I fall into this.

So birth order wise this is how we fall:

1. Debra
2. Katherine
3. Sabrina
4. Charlyn
5. Christopher
6. Christina
7. Caroline

Now the weird thing is from my sister's response how she divides the birth order is different than me. I'm sure Katherine and maybe Debra's is different because they might include Tami. Caroline might include Liz.

So how do I divide them. This is me before researching the above. I'll let you know if I think the above is bullshit.

Debra is the oldest but she moved out sometime when I was in elementary school so most of my life my older sister figure would have been Katherine. Then in our immediate house that would make Charlyn and I the middle children, and Caroline the youngest. BUT then you put in that when Katherine graduated and joined the navy Caroline was still very young so then I would be her primary older sister and Charlyn would be in the middle. BUT 4 years later Charlyn and I were both out of the house and Caroline was raised as an only child.

If we are still dividing it by household that would put Debra at the top of Mom's, Christopher as the middle then Christina as the youngest.  Lucky for them Debra lingered for several years so I don't think the title shifted that much.  Weekends and holiday if we came then would Debra be the oldest, Katherine-Chris the middle, and then Christina the youngest? Still leaving Carolina as the Lone Wolf?

In one article I read it mentions that no child is raised by the same parent. Each parent is a different type of parent to each child. I couldn't agree with this more.

It also says that no two children take the same role. So can multiple children not be the middle child? Is that why in my way of thinking it through in our immediate house it shifted as the older children left?

So, how do I think the definitions apply to each of us?  Right off the bat I can cross out Christina as the baby? She was the work mule of the house and not treated like the typical baby.

Caroline- I could say she fits the category as The Life of the Party and The Lone Wolf. She was the baby but also separated from us because of the large age gap.

Debra and Katherine- I think both fall into the Achiever Role

Charlyn- I would say the Peacemaker is correct

Christopher and I would say are the wild cards. Again going back to the other article I read that says no two children are raised by the same parent this scenario messed up our birth order as middle children. Our mother favored us which put us more into a baby status. And again if the baby status was taken then maybe that pushed Charlyn and Christina into the Middle child role. Does that make sense? Crazy right???

What an awesome brain dump! That was fun. I would love to hear your guys thoughts. How do you categories everyone. Do you do it by parents grouping, house holding groupings, or all in one big line?

Add on...while I'm at it I will add my children.

I think they will fall into 2 categories at two different times. Ethan was the Lone Wolf, then became The Achiever.  Lorelei was The Life of the Party and will transition to the Lone Wolf.