You don't know what you think you know...

It's been quite some time since I have blogged.  More like 3ish years.  In that time we had another baby.  Aubrey Anne Young.  She is our little miracle baby.  The one that never should have happened but did.  To put the cherry on top she was born on Christmas day.  What better day to be born on? 

I have read a lot of those articles talking about the roles children typically take based on birth order.  It solidifies for me that #1 - we are an atypical family and #2 - those articles are crap.  I have highlighted those "norms" from the article in relation to my children below.  Let me preface this with the fact that I love and adore my children so very much.  That being said, I am not immune to their quirks.  They crack me up and seem to have inherited a mixture of myself and my husbands genes to make them the most awesome little weird people I have ever known! So here goes...

Reid - First Born

Reid is our first born.  He is now 11 years old.  It really isn't fair as parents that Reid was our first child.  He was such an easy baby/toddler that we thought that we must be exceptional parents.  We were under the impression that we had this parenting thing down!  Wake up call!!!!  I am convinced that Reid lives on an alternate planet.  He is lost most of the time.  Kind of just wanders around aimlessly not knowing what day of the week it is for the most part.  He sure is a good looking kid though.  Maybe he will land a doctor for a wife.  Although I am fairly confident she would have to be okay with living upstairs at our house because he has made it abundantly clear that he never intends to leave. 

According to this article Reid should be reliable...umm no.  You can bet that 100% of the time if you give Reid specific instructions not to do something he will do that exact something that he shouldn't.  If that is what you mean by reliable then I guess he is.  Conscientious - I could twist this to make it fit Reid, I suppose.  He is mindful of other people's feelings when he wants to be.  Structured - this one is very funny to me.  He is the exact opposite of structured.  I can't really blame him for this.  He is cut from the mold of his dad and Scott is the same way.  Scott has learned to adapt in life though so there is still hope for Reid with regards to this.  Next we have cautious.  I can say this one does apply to Reid.  He is a safety man...always has been.  As a mom, I value this in Reid.  Controlling...umm, again no!  Lastly, first born children tend to be achievers.  This is not the case with Reid either.  He is one of those people that is totally okay with flying under the radar in life.  He does the bare minimum to get by.  He is capable of so much more but has no desire to put forth that effort.  As a mother it is very frustrating. 

Ryan - The Middle Child

I mentioned that wake up call earlier.  It is better known as Ryan.  We had so much heartache related to having another baby that when Ryan was born we were just so in love.  He was a super fussy baby.  Threw up any food that he came in contact with.  Didn't sleep through the night until he was 1 but he was our perfect little miracle nonetheless.  I remember making the comment to Scott when we first got Ryan home that he seemed to be more laid back than Reid...boy did I eat those words.  If I had to use one word now to describe my Ryan it would be INTENSE.  He is wise beyond his years.  He is a bundle of energy.  He is just awesome.  Plus, he is the only child in my family that prefers me over my husband...but whatever!

According to the article Ryan should be prone to being a people pleaser.  That is out the door.  If he doesn't like your idea he won't do and he will tell you just how stupid it is.  Somewhat rebellious...I think you can probably gather from my previous comment that this one clearly applies.  Thrives on friendship - well this one could fit but I think this one would fit most kids.  They all want friends.  He should have a large social circle.  Well, just our immediate families would constitute a large social circle so that one is weird.  Lastly, he will be a peacemaker.  This is funny because generally if there is peace to be made in our house it is Ryan that is disturbing the peace. 

There are so many things I could tell you about my kids but I will save that for another post.  I will say that if Ryan had been our firstborn I feel fairly confident in saying that he would have been our only.  He is wonderful but it takes both of us to keep up with him.  I have started running again and he goes with me.  Runs the entire time I do.  He will probably run his first 5k before he turns 5.  By the way, Ryan starts soccer in a few weeks.  This should be very interesting.  Stay tuned for a post on that...

Last But Not Least - the Baby - Aubrey

I would say that this article came the closest to predicting the traits of Aubrey.  She is just precious.  She's my only daughter and she has absolutely nothing to do with me.  She's all about her dad.  Is attached to his leg 99% of the time.  When Scott is out of town for work she lets me console her but the minute he walks back in the door I may as well disappear. 

The article states that Aubrey will be fun-loving.  She is, I suppose.  She's a happy child until he brothers screw that up.  Uncomplicated - I would say that Aubrey is very complicated.  Take getting dressed as an example.  It's a fight every single morning to get her dressed.  She likes to wear dresses most days.  If she does wear pants she expects to have a tutu over those pants.  Never mind the shoes...ugh!  Next is manipulative - there is not a manipulative bone in her body.  Outgoing - nope!  She is a home body unless her dad leaves the house...then she wants to leave but the whole time she is asking him to go back home.  Attention seeker - no, not really.  She is perfectly content to be in the background.  Lastly is self-centered.  She absolutely is not self-centered.  She is warm and loving and forgiving.  She has to be forgiving or she couldn't live with her older brothers.     

I like you think there is no way to predict what your children's personalities will be like.  I mean everyone raises their children differently.  There are so many factors that influence who they will become.  Most days I feel like a failure of a parent because of something that happens with the kids.  I just hope and pray that they grow up to be good solid Christian people.  I love them even more for NOT fitting the mold.  Who wants to be like everyone else anyway?

Debra