Are you a proud parent of two or more? Or, do you have plans to expand your family? If you said yes to any of these questions–congratulations! If a big family is part of your dreams, we couldn’t be happier or more supportive of you!
There’s no doubt you’ve done some research on the ideas of raising a big family, but there may be some pretty important and interesting things you haven’t heard about the order of your kids’ birth!
Check out these 9 important and intriguing facts about the order of birth in your family!
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1. IQ
There tends to be a lot of hoopla out there perpetuating the idea that your firstborn goes on to be the most intelligent of your children. Admittedly, there is research to support that idea. In fact, the Journal of Research in Personality published a study to prove it by testing siblings’ IQ scores. While they found the eldest sibling to have the highest IQ score on average…it was by only one point.
2. Creativity
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As parents have more kids, the more relaxed they become in their parenting styles. This reduction of stress leads to more flexible and nurturing parenting skills; As a result, many believe that the youngest sibling is regarded as the most creative. Considering parents become more loosey-goosey, it only makes sense that they’d encourage their youngest to indulge in their passions.
3. Leaving the nest
Growing up as a middle child could have an effect on how far away a child moves away in adulthood. Being sandwiched between the oldest and youngest child leaves them with a higher curiosity and need to seek a sense of identity, many believe. So the idea that they’d be willing to leave the nest to do so holds water.
4. Leadership skills
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It sounds cliche, sure, but when younger siblings are born, your eldest child will develop a sense of responsibility to take care of them. It’s that nurturing mentality and development of a parental role that leads them to have strong leadership skills. It also leads to higher levels of maturity and understanding of responsibilities.
5. People person
Middle children are typically thought of as the most sociable of the bunch. This is probably attributed to the fact that parents’ focus tends to go straight to the eldest or youngest. This leads the middle child to lean on his/her peers more frequently, which helps them develop strong social skills.
6. The charmer
Youngest kids typically have it easiest in regards to discipline. As parents become more laid back over the years (and after a number of other children), they tend to take it easy on the youngest child. This often leads to your youngest being the most charismatic and charming–to a fault sometimes. Most think that the youngest tends to be the most manipulative as they can charm themselves out of a situation.
7. Relates to adults
Their inherent sense of responsibility and maturity often leads the eldest of your children to relate most to adults. This means that they not only get along with adults in seamless fashion, but they tend to prefer the company of adults more than their younger siblings.
8. Most faithful/best partner
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Many believe that their sociability leads the middle child to be the best partner for their spouse. They typically display a stronger sense of loyalty, dependability, and commitment than they’re other siblings. Obviously, the aforementioned qualities are perfect in a partner.
9. Most likely to follow in the eldest’s footsteps
This may come as no surprise, but your middle child was the first to be and most impacted by your eldest child. It’s because of the unique relationship between first and second that makes the middle child most likely to emulate the actions and behaviours of the firstborn.
[H/T] Mom.Me
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