I’m fascinated by birth order, in case you couldn’t tell, and after reading Leman’s books and a few on oldest daughters, I discovered psychologist Linda Blair’s Birth Order: What Your Position in the Family Really Tells You About Your Character. One of the complaints out there about birth order is that it isn’t real, it […]
I’m Not Anti-Idea, But This Firstborn Has Things To Do
I’m not sure which makes my skin crawl more. Hearing, “I have an idea.” Or hearing, “Just come up with a couple ideas.” I tell myself, “Ideas are fun!” And I wish I believed it. But in reality, daydreaming they’ve been completed is what’s fun. Daydreaming the Big Idea is a Whopping Success and all […]
5 Things About Birth Order and Perfectionism You May Not Know
Admit it, you know at least one perfectionist. Probably someone in your family. Is it your mother? Or maybe a sister or brother? Or maybe it’s you. Or maybe you work with or for someone who is a perfectionist about some things – or everything. Now consider if the person you thought of is an […]
The One With the FRIENDS Birth Order Breakdown
Let’s talk about birth order among our favorite friends – The Friends! Is that geeky or nerdy? Who cares, it’s fun! I’m not sure how purposefully the writers of Friends may have included specific birth order personality traits into the characters, but these are so much a part of how humans interact that the patterns […]
Nonfiction Book Review: Oldest Daughters by Patricia Schudy
I agree with Patricia Schudy (and the authors of the Eldest Daughter Effect) that oldest daughters are treated differently than oldest sons. While many firstborn traits will be similar (see Dr. Lehman’s books) the specific expectations of an oldest daughter are different than an oldest son. Author Patricia Schudy is a writer and former columnist […]
Are Things Going Well? An Early Day in the Life of a Firstborn Daughter
We had all four windows rolled down in the green tank-like Ford thanks to the summer Florida sun intent on baking us inside. Hot humid air swooshed into the car. Mom steered around the curvy stretch of road towards home as fast as she dared as my sister and two brothers talked and fussed and […]
Nonfiction Book Review: The Firstborn Advantage by Dr. Kevin Leman
Guess who said the following: “I have offended God and mankind because my work didn’t reach the quality it should have.” No, not me after my last performance evaluation. This quote is from Leonardo da Vinci, who created the Mona Lisa and The Last Supper. Oh, and was a genius. And was also a functional […]
Nonfiction Book Review: The Eldest Daughter Effect
After Mom died I couldn’t figure out why I was so compelled to take care of her (given our history) – and why I was so conflicted about it at the same time. Since books are my go-to for learning about anything, I searched and found The Eldest Daughter Effect. It provided lots of insight. […]