What is your position in the birth order of your siblings?

[JudoMom]

(I have no idea where she gets these delusions of royalty, of course.)

 

It truly is a mystery, Andie. I certainly hope you're able to discover the cause, soon :lol:.

 

Of course, mine aren't delusional. Mwahahahaha....:D

[Miss Marple]

I wonder if being a first born gives one more confidence to homeschool. First borns seem to be better at delegating and, well, bossing. :-)

 

Whereas, I (a last child) just want everyone to have fun. I haven't had much experience "bossing" so I'm a bit of a push-over. I have to work to make sure the boys know I'm serious. Just watching my own boys has given me a better feel of birth order characteristics. My oldest could lead an army of ants to do his wishes; whereas my youngest would try to put them in a bottle and keep them as pets.

[samba]

I'm the 4th of 5. I was the youngest for 14 years and then my little brother was born. Three of us are married with children; I'm the only one homeschooling.

 

Carolyn

[Laura Corin]

do you think that's strange?

 

I'm a first born. But how does that relate to homeschooling?

 

Every family that has children has a first born. Some have a second. Fewer have a third. Even fewer have a fourth....

 

There are always going to be many more first borns than others in a poll like this.

 

Laura

[Liberty]

Every family that has children has a first born. Some have a second. Fewer have a third. Even fewer have a fourth....

 

There are always going to be many more first borns than others in a poll like this.

 

Laura

 

I'm assuming those choosing "1st born" were not only children (or else that choice would be equally large), so if every family that has a 1st born also has a last born wouldn't 1st and last be more evenly split in this poll? (I'm not good at math so please don't laugh too hard if this is a stupid question)

[Elm in NJ]

I am an only child, now a mother to 4 boys.

 

Elmeryl(with J 13, C 9, R7, L7)

[Laura Corin]

It should, except that there is only one option for 'first', whereas running their eyes down the poll, someone might choose '2nd', not realising that they should choose 'last'. I had to look twice.

 

If you add up all the other options apart from 'first', then there are only slightly more first borns than others.

 

Laura

[Paula in PA]

Both dh and I are youngest. I have/had 5 older sibs, 3 sisters living, 1 sister & 1 brother deceased. Dh has 2 older sisters, but since there are 15 years between, I guess that qualifies him as an only? Even though I am the 'baby', I tend to treated like I'm the oldest when it comes to most family issues. Supposedly, I've been told, this is either because I have 'oldest' qualities or because I'm the most like our mother. Dh turns 40 this year and still tends to be treated like a 'child' by his sisters and mother. So far, no one else in the family homeschools, and I honestly can't see any of them doing so.

[MyThreeSons]

I'm the baby of the family. Can you tell? :D

 

I have to say, I am shocked by how many are the 1st. Is there an obvious reason for that that I am not seeing?

 

Well, statistically speaking, there are more first borns than any other position in the general population, so it isn't surprising it's true here too. The numbers are overwhelming, though.

[ereks mom]

Sorry if somebody else already said this. I didn't have time to read ALL the posts. :001_smile:

[mcconnellboys]

In years past, I've often read that first-borns tend more to be type A personalities: driven to succeed, leaders, etc. That sure does seem to bear out here, with such a lot of firsts and onlies reporting in!

[Qs3]

I am the oldest. I'm 31 and my brother is almost 29.

[KidsHappen]

I was a much bossier sister than I am a mother.

[ereks mom]

My brother was a "surprise". Both my sister & I got married in 1980. When we went home for Christmas that year, we got the big news that our mom was pregnant! When our brother was born, I was 20 (turned 21 a few weeks later) & my sister was 19. My sister & I, of course, grew up together, but our brother was, for all practical purposes, an only child.

[asher]

Wow! I'm floored by how many are first borns! I am, too. Although, I'm totally not a Type A personality :) My younger brother totally is.

[gardenschooler]

I'm the 2nd of 4 girls. We were born in pairs - I have a sister 15 months older than me, and then 9 years later, my mother had 2 more girls less than 2 years apart.

[tonya in sc]

Youngest of 5, and the only girl. I am 39. My bros are 41, 49, and 50. One brother died a couple years ago. He would be 48. I only grew up with the one right above me. The rest are halves who lived with Mom.

 

BTW, I went to live with another family when I was 15. The mom's sister, who was 20 at the time, lived with us, as did their son, who was about 7 or 8. So there, I was the oldest. Or in the middle. Or whatever.

 

I am the only homeschooler. They all pooh-pooh me, but they sure think my kids are great!

[emzhengjiu]

I'm a first born but I only had one sibling. He died unexpectedly three years ago. My SIL is now homeschooling both my niece and nephew. She's also a first born!

[PariSarah]

I don't know why people think I'm an oldest--I'm not particularly organized, neat, driven, conscientious, parent-pleasing, or ambitious. But I've had many people comment that they are surprised to find that I'm a middle child. While I can see both sides of a story, I don't have the near-pathological need to keep the peace that middle children are supposed to have.

 

Actually, I don't particularly believe in birth order theory, except possibly as relates to the difference in social skills between firsts/onlies and youngers. But if I were going to speculate as to the relationship between birth order and homeschooling, I might say that dh's desire to homeschool has a lot to do with wanting to get things right, to help our children be the best they can be, etc. Classic first child stuff. And my desire to homeschool is similar, even though that doesn't sound like middle-child stuff.

[homeschoolmom]

.... as my brother is 9.5 years younger than I it's almost as if my parents had two onlies.

 

DH is also a first born. His sister is 6 years younger than he.

 

DD is an only.

[Jami]

I don't know why people think I'm an oldest--I'm not particularly organized, neat, driven, conscientious, parent-pleasing, or ambitious. But I've had many people comment that they are surprised to find that I'm a middle child. While I can see both sides of a story, I don't have the near-pathological need to keep the peace that middle children are supposed to have.

.

 

I'm really not a peace-keeping middle child either! And *my* middle child certainly isn't. I'm very competitive, opinionated, and affirmation driven (though not necessarily parent-pleasing, more teachers and others), are those first born or middle child characteristics? Though in my own defense, I have mellowed a bit over the years and tend to mediate or avoid the arguments my older sister loves having with my dad these days. Of course, part of that is that my dh really doesn't like those family arguments (discussions?) and prefers I not engage, so I try and sit still on the sidelines.

[DIY-DY]

I'm 35 (this month). Siblings are 72, 70, 60, 58, and one would have been 53 this year (she's deceased). So, I grew up with siblings as aunt/uncle authority figures, and neices/nephews as cousin/sibling relationships. That was kind of wild.

 

Now, I'm mama to five, aged nine and under.

[Makita]

I'm the oldest of 3 and the only girl.

[shea]

I'm also the youngest girl. There are four girls and just three boys now. One of my brothers passed away two years ago. I'm 45 and the oldest, who is a male, is 57. My brother who passed was an identical twin, and I'm married to an identical twin, so my kids can look out. :eek: They're almost assured to have twins with them being in both of our family backgrounds! Oh, I'm the only homeschooler of the bunch, but most of my siblings kids have already graduated. I had my kids at an older age than they did. I also feel that I am the more radical of the bunch , and I am the one more willing to try new things.

[angela in ohio]

Bwahahaha..

 

This poll definitely explains the difficulties I've seen in homeschooling groups. :lol:

 

I'm an oldest, too.

[Brindee]

I'm the youngest of three. I'm the only one to homeschool and also the only one to graduate from college.

That's funny Lucinda, that describes me too! I put 3rd child but I probably should've put youngest??? The oldest is a boy, then two girls. My brother is almost 5 years older than me. My sister is 17 months younger than my brother.

 

My sister was not pleased with my idea to homeschool at first. But after awhile she saw how well my kids were turning out and became very supportive. She ended up homeschooling her dd's Jr and Sr. years of highschool! :)

 

My brother had two boys. My sister had one boy, then two girls. I had 2 boys, then a girl. My sil had 2 boys. My dh is the oldest of two, so his parents had 4 grandsons. We finally had a girl, so she's the youngest of our children, an my in-laws only granddaughter. Naaaahhh, she's not spoiled! :tongue_smilie: Come to think of it, my fil is one (the oldest) of two boys as well! When I was pregnant with dd dh kept humming the "My Three Sons" song, and saying, "You KNOW it's going to be a boy, right? We don't know how to make girls!" :lol:

 

DH and I are the only ones who homeschool. His parents and my parents both did not know what to think when we started homeschooling, but were very supportive at all times!

[mommaduck]

I the oldest of all my siblings. There are the ten of us, not all raised together. 6 girls and 4 boys. I was raised with 2 brothers and none of the sisters. 3 are married 7 are not. I have 7 children, R has 2, L has 3, Mt has 2, Mk2 has 1, P has 1, and the other 4 have no children yet. I'm the only one homeschooling, but have had a sister offer to send hers to me to homeschool LOL!

 

Those of us with more than one child, have a mix of genders.

[mommaduck]

WOW, you're right! Look at that poll! Something about Firstborns, eh?

[Rosie_0801]

I'm the oldest of three.

My sister is 2 1/2 years younger than me and is somewhat "mundane." She will never homeschool her children because her experiences of being bullied for almost her entire school life, to the point where she didn't even learn to make friends until in her mid-20's, have taught her that the experience was character building. She knows she's been properly socialised because she felt it all very uncomfortably.

My brother is 6 years younger, and only 21. He's all for homeschooling and would consider it in the future, but realises such decisions are not important until he has a wife type person and kids. He's not convinced he really wants a wife, and isn't too sure where he'd get the kids from if he doesn't change his mind on that issue.

I'm the only weird person in the family with this crazy homeschooling idea. Mum is full of how she'll support me in whatever choices I make, but is only comfortable with the idea now that she knows someone who knows someone with properly educated, socialised and well mannered kids. Couldn't take my word for it, of course... Dad is fine now he's been reassured that I have thought about teaching maths. I'm not what he thought before, that I wasn't going to teach them any? Lol, I know what my kids will say when they are older "Parents are weird!!"

I guess us first borns are the rebel ground breakers, according to the poll anyway! Maybe it's because our families expect us to do weird stuff that no one else has thought of yet. Or maybe we're all so bossy no one dares to say too much about it to us?

:)

Rosie

[Hebrews3:13]

I have an older brother and he and his wife aren't leaning toward homeschooling at all.

 

DH is also the youngest, although in all fairness he is 6 years younger then #2 sibling and 10 years behind #3, so I see a lot of first-born features in him.

 

We also are both the over-achievers in the family.

 

Interestingly, his brother's wife did begin homeschooling after ds was expelled in Kindergarten for threatening to "shoot" another student with his cap gun. I had talked to her about homeschooling prior to this and she had been VERY obnoxious about it all, as if it were crazy. I find it all a little amusing now.

 

Both of our parents were not crazy about it, but have let it go. Now, DH's folks are more supportive since their other grandson is also homeschooled.

[NancyNellen]

Classic middle child.

 

My bro. is 16 mo. older than me and my sis is 13 mo. younger. My mom had 3 under 2 1/2!

 

My sibs think I'm a nutcase for homeschooling. They don't disagree, per se, but they would NEVER do it.

[Jackie in AR]

My mom had 3 under 2 1/2!

 

 

That is how our first 3 worked out, too. Our twins had just turned 2 1/2 when our first dd was born. That time is a little blurry in my mind. ;)

[StaceyinLA]

Next sib is 12 years older than me (there are 5 of them all close together).

[caitlinsmom]

I am the oldest of 7. There is 21 years difference between me and the youngest! We have 3 girls 4 boys, 2 of which are twins.

 

lol my middle name is Solitaire meaning one. I was supposed to be an only child.

 

My sis plans on hs her kiddos (5yrs younger than me), my brothers wanted to be hs'd but mom said no. I am the odd ball in many ways, they all accept this as jsut another one of my excentricies. (sp?)

[kortney in AL]

I am the 4th and the youngest. I also was a spoiled brat. My mom said that after the first three, she and my dad were "just tired" and didn't feel like doing anything with me. I would like to say, however, that I am much improved!:)