Ernie got to spend most of Saturday over at Mom and Dad’s causing trouble. Mostly he just runs around the kitchen-living room-dining room circle about 10 times and then gets tired and lays down in whichever room is most full of people.
Ernie has severe anxiety about the rapture happening while he’s not in the room so he has to always move rooms if his people do and this leads to him not getting much rest during the day if people are around.
We had steak for dinner and The Kid was bad and fed Ern some steak fat. He didn’t tell him this until Sunday morning – AFTER Ernie threw up…
The Kid doesn’t get my computer anymore if I die.
Anyway, Ernie didn’t feel good at all Sunday and mostly just layed around looking at Laura and me and making us do things for him with his big eyes. Stuff like carry him outside to go to the bathroom and giving him extra cheese for his breakfast.
Here’s a picture of the Ern looking pathetic, even though it’s not from Sunday – you get the idea.
The good news is, Ern seems a little better this morning…
I am the 2nd born of 4 children in the family (see image below). Being an analytical type by nature, I sometimes analyze myself and one way to do that is to try to figure out if I fit into the Middle Child stereotypeor (because I’m actually the eldest boy on top of being the second child) do I take more of a first born role?
The Siblings - Note these are actual photos taken of the children as much as 30 years before they were born!
Henry T. Stein developed some basics of children behavior. Here’s his summary of the positions that may apply to me and my thoughts:
Second
| He has a pacemaker. There is always someone ahead. | Is more competitive, wants to overtake older child. May become a rebel or try to outdo everyone. Competition can deteriorate into rivalry. |
Jenna is my elder sister, so she’s the one that was “always ahead” of me. I’m not sure if Dr. Stein meant “peacemaker” rather than “pacemaker” but either applies really. I don’t like conflict and tried to keep my siblings from fighting. Unless we were fighting Alex (my younger brother), he was fair game. I never felt very competitive, but maybe I was in the depths of my brain. I’m still not competitive at all, but I am a better driver than Jenna and I’m taller than her too, not to mention I’m more dashing and stronger.
Eldest
| Dethroned by next child. Has to learn to share. Parent expectations are usually very high. Often given responsibility and expected to set an example. | May become authoritarian or strict. Feels power is his right. Can become helpful if encouraged. May turn to father after birth of next child. |
This is a stretch since I’m just the eldest boy, not the eldest child, and it was 4 years after I was born until the next boy (Alex) was born. So I didn’t feel very “dethroned” by him since I was far Superior. Maaaybee I was kinda strict and authoritarian towards him, but you’ll have to ask him – either way I think he’s cool now. I like the part about being helpful, that’s me to a T
Middle
| Is “sandwiched” in. May feel squeezed out of a position of privilege and significance. | May be even-tempered, “take it or leave it” attitude. May have trouble finding a place or become a fighter of injustice. |
Ashley (Sister) and I are both middle children, so we were both squeezed out of privilege and significance. This could be remedied by larger portions of the parents will, but I’m probably still out of the will and will therefore have to get back in before I can get any extras. The even-tempered is a good description of me. I usually only get riled up after several days of repeated abuse from my siblings.
Only Boy Among Girls
| Usually with women all the time, if father is away. | May try to prove he is the man in the family, or become effeminate. |
This applied for the first 4 years of my life and, truthfully, Dad was not “away” all that much so I had a good man figure despite my sisters attempts to make me “effeminate.” No high heels here. I’m sure there’s probably deep underlying scars from having to live 4 years without a brother for support though. They probably will become evident when I go through my midlife crisis.
Most of those characteristics seem to focus on the negatives of each position. So here’s some positives of being the second/middle/eldest boy/among girls for 4 years born in the family: I wasn’t the Guinea pig like Jenna, I got Dad’s attention all to myself, I learned how to relate to girls early in life, I had Sister as a fellow middle child to play with, I got to do more cool guy stuff than Jenna did.
