Birth Order

In our parenting group we've been watching one of Kevin Leeman's video series. Last night the topic was birth order... how interesting! I've heard plenty about it over the years but he really layed it out well and talked about how it impacts you as a parent (YOUR birth order) and how knowing about it can help you with your children. So, I thought I'd share some info with you all since I found it so enlightening. Today I'll talk about first borns. I'm considered a first born since my older sister is 6yrs older than I am and we were raised in different homes. I could literally check each of these traits off of this list of typical first born traits. I can also really see all of them in my first born... Miss Priss Madison. Here's the list for you all:

STRENGTHS

Take Charge, know what to do;Command respect; others want to follow their unflinching leadership;Cooperative, easy to work with, good team player; Always do things right and leave no stone unturned to do a thorough job; Have everything under control; always on top of things; tend to be on time and on schedule;Ambitious, enterprising, energetic, willing to sacrifice to be a success; Set goals and reach them; tend to get more done in a day than others, planning the day is a must;Known as straight thinkers;can be counted on not to be compulsive or to go off half-

cocked; Tend to be voracious readers and accumulators of information and facts; good problem solvers who think things through.

WEAKNESSES

May undermine the initiative of those who lean on them too much or may come off as too overbearing or aggressive; Can run roughshod over others; may be insensitive and tend to be selfish; too focused on the goal and not enough on the feelings of others; Can be taken advantage of, bullies, bluffed; Tend to criticize themselves and/or others too much; never satisfied; may procrastinate because they fear they cannot do a "good enough job"; May worry too much about order, process, and rules and not be flexible when it's needed; may show real impatience with anyone who is "disorganized" or not as meticulous; can be upset by surprises; Put themeslves or those they work with u nder too much stress and pressure; May become boxed in, too busy with the to-do list to see the big picture and what needs to be done right now; May believe they're always right and fail to pay attention to the more intuitive opinions of others; May spend too much time gathering facts when there are other things that need to be done; may be so serious they fail to see the humor in situations when humor is desperately needed

So, you first borns out there... did you see yourself here? Of course not all of it will fit everyone, but in general it usually does. If you're not a first born.. does this describe your first born child? Your spouce that's as first born? Knowing things like this can really help you relate to that first born person in your life better. I think the reason I can handle Madison often times better than Clayton is b/c I share in her personality... Clayton's the relaxed la-ti-da middle child.. which I'll get to in a few days. He can't understand the things she and I do... like why does it matter if we're a few minutes late? Why does the floor NEED to be vacuumed every single day? Why does it matter if there's one book out of place on the shelf? Can't I just relax about things? I do think being married to a middle child has helped me relax IMMENSLY... but I still am much more uptight about a lot of things compared to him. Madison is the same way... I'm trying to help her chill out a bit too... we'll see if I can do that successfully as the years go by!