Birth Order

If you have spent anytime with me, I have probably questioned your birth order and have given you a run down on what kind of person you should be based on your birth order!  I need new people to diagnose because my family is sick of it. Dan doesn’t want to hear about him being the baby of the family anymore and that’s why he likes presents and parties!  Or Like when I tell my Bonnie to quit being such a bossy, know-it-all firstborn, trying to organize everyone.  Or how I explain to people that I am a quasi-firstborn/only child because of the 10 year age gap with my siblings and that’s why I am a bit schizophrenic.   Birth Order truly gave me insider information on how I was wired and helps me so much understand my kids.  I learned how it’s important to not shaft Maggie, my middle child, all the time, to do ALONE special things with her without being smashed by her brothers and sisters.

All of my knowledge came from the awesome book, Birth Order by Kevin Lehman.  He also writes books on other topics and I read a parenting book that changed me forever.  He has five children and he harped on the fact that you can’t be all things to all people or you will exhaust yourself.  You can’t make all the play dates, parties, clubs, events, sleep-overs and such.  He kept his kids as close to home as he could and he doesn’t regret it.  Time flies so fast and making family memories are the most important.  I sometimes feel bad for my kids because they don’t get to do a lot of things with their friends but poof they will be grown and I want family memories more than anything when they think of their childhood.  It honestly set me free and I am pretty sure I quit a playgroup that very week.  My kids got sick every time I went and I dreaded it and finally the dang light bulb went on in my head and I realized I didn’t have to go anymore!! FREEDOM!!  It might sound weird but it resonates in my soul that it is the right thing for my family!  It took TREMENDOUS pressure off of me learning how to say, “We don’t do sleep-overs!”  We have to juggle so many people to do anything and logistically we only have one extra seat in the truck and now KC occupies that, so we are full! We really have the most fun together on all of our adventures and tomorrow they will be grown and on to their own lives, sniff, sniff :( #lovemybabies