File this with the
other strange things that run through my mind when I’m trying to go to sleep: I’m not sure if
it’s my own imaginative thinking, but I have been thinking of some of the
families I know and I find some have certain characteristics in common.
If the first two
children are of the same sex the older will be ‘more’ of many of these: open, serious,
responsible, grave, and Monday’s Child fair of face.
The second child
will be ‘cuter’, and more blithe, mischievous, and secretive, and if it is the second of three, life may be a bit
harder because it will always be a ‘middle’ child - neither the first who
usually gets a bit more because its older and, obviously, has lived longer, nor
the last who gets more attention because it’s the ‘baby’.
A third child of
the same sex as its two older siblings will be a problem child: good looking,
smart, clever, but a problem nevertheless. The ‘terrible twos’ may last a lifetime.
I’m not familiar
with any families that have more than three of the same sex in a row. One large
family I know is a random mix of sexes, and another large one repeats the
pattern of boy-girl-girl x 3! But I’d guess in larger families the older kids
keep the younger ones in check – no matter how they came in order.
If the child is an
only child (poor thing!) then, naturally, all bets are off.
I’ve never come
upon or heard of anyone commenting on this before
– have you?
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