Middle Child

I have now mentioned to Vincent several times, in passing, how Sienna, my new cousin, has quickly become one of my favorite people. I was listing off her great characteristics to why she is so great and without much pre-thought I assessed it was all due to the fact that she was the middle child. Then later I realized that I’m married to a ‘middle child’ and furthermore, a lot of my close friends are, as well as other cool people.

According to Wikipedia, “Middleborn children have a diverse range of personalities. The habits of many middleborns are motivated by the fact that they have never been truly in the spotlight. The first-born always seems to be achieving and pioneering ahead, while the younger sibling is secure in his or her niche as the entertainer of the family. The middle born child may develop great social skills and have an easier time growing up with an other-centered point of view. The middle child knows what he or she is doing and tends to become very intelligent in their efforts to gain attention from siblings. Middle born children are usually quite talented, and their quest for perfection against their siblings can lead them to discover new and unlooked-for qualities, musically, academically, and theoretically. It has been suggested that middleborn children are more likely to be entrepreneurs. Karen E. Klein, a Los Angeles-based writer, suggested that a middleborn's innate skills in diplomacy plus their flexibility in ideas make them more susceptible to entrepreneurship. A first born's common feeling of a fear of losing the top position makes them more risk adverse. This makes first borns less likely to create a new venture.”

So, maybe middle children are just cooler. Maybe from here on out, when I’m meeting new people I should ask for their birth order than decide if I want to be there friend or not. But then again, maybe not, since I’m a first born and I think I turned out okay.

Kristine and Vincent: both middle children

Carrie Galpin, sitting in the middle, can sorta be considered a middle child.

And here is Sienna.

Tommy: the coolest of them all.

Emily and my sister, Kari (Halloween two years ago)

'D'-standing in the center. Um, Mokko I guess is/
can be considered to be in the middle...but I think
he's more of the baby in the family.