I am first born. Always responsible. Always blamed for things the younger kids did. The babysitter, house cleaner, and generally overly disciplined, from bed times, to spanking, to going out, and talking on the phone.
I'm glad I am first born because it taught me to be in control. No one else will do it! I am sad I am first born, because my younger siblings had it so much easier than me.
I took a birth order workshop one time, it was very revealing. I was more interested in finding about my own kids, and I learned a lot.
The presenter had us divide into groups according to birth order - oldest, middles and youngest. He gave us an assignment to talk about how birth order affected us, and then write it down, and report it to the group.
Oldest - every single person took notes, we were all prepared to answer, and we stayed on topic.
Middles - one person appointed to take notes, although she forgot to read them to report. Some talk about the topic, but a lot was general chatter.
Youngest - no one took notes, they didn't even realize they were supposed to, and they talked about all kinds of things, never touched the topic.
It was a very graphic illustration that birth order really does affect us.
Afterwards, I asked the presenter the question I had about my 3 year old daughter. I had 3 older boys, The oldest was 16 when my daughter was 3. She would go up to my 6'3" son, and just hit him and yell at him. My poor son would just stand there, while she screamed "no Robbie, no Robbie, no!" I know she trusted him, but it was pretty aggressive for a feminine little girl who always wore a dress to differentiate herself from her brothers.
The presenter said she was "first born female." So, she was all about control, and not backing down. She was very responsible, and continues to be. So, not youngest at all. That was my third son, who definitely fits the youngest child bill, despite being a so-called middle. My real middle child is a perfect middle. Great with compromising in a way that he gets his way, and the other person didn't even realize they got had.
This is a good topic. But maybe expanding it to birth order would be a bit better?
PS Aren't oldest children supposed to be more successful in life, and smarter? I think that is because they had a lot of parental attention when they were the only child.