Filed under: Siblings, In the newsI've been feeling kind of bad for my three-year-old lately. This year, my older kiddo picked up a lot of new activities, most of which toddlers are not invited to participate in. She started preschool, began a dance class, and this spring, started playing soccer. On Saturdays, my three-year-old whines, "I don't like soccer games." She's tired of being a tag-a-long.But while I'm feeling sorry for my baby, Newsweek tells me that it's my firstborn that gets the short end of the stick. It's a commonly held tradition that firstborn kids have to "break in" their parents, and therefore have to live with stricter rules and harsher discipline than their younger siblings. Recent research backs up this folklore; older siblings are less likely to make mistakes because they are used to being held up to higher standards, while younger siblings are more likely to be risk takers.Trying to apply these findings to the people I know, I can't really find a pattern. I know a lot of firstborns who are risk takers (and mistake-makers), and plenty of family "babies" who live comfortably inside their comfort zones. Yet, among my own children, I can see a hint of it. And looking at my parenting techniques, I just might recognize a little of this in myself.What about you? Do you think you were treated differently by your parents because of your birth order? Do you see that in your own parenting? Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Posted on Fri, 16 May 2008 09:00:00 EST at http://www.parentdish.com/2008/05/16/fir...r-parents/
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