Alders Birth Order

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When reading Alder’s theories on birth order I cannot help but be fascinated. Even before reading Alder’s theory I had some intuition that birth order had some type of affect on personal growth. I myself have two other siblings. Me being the youngest of three, I have a brother who is three years older than me, and a sister that is six years older than me. There is at least one part in each of Alder’s birth order theory that relates to my older siblings and me. I remember hearing stories that when my older brother was born my older sister could not stand him. My parents would tell me stories of my sister slapping my brother as hard as she could on his stomach when he was about a year old. If viewed through Alder’s theory of birth order, my sister was acting out in anger towards my brother because she had been dethroned of her status and attention that she got from my parents. “Alder believed all firstborns feel the shock of their changed status in the family” (Schultz & Schultz, pg. 122, 2013). Another relatable situation in my sister’s case is that she took on the role of teacher, or caregiver to us younger boys that Alder stated happens in allot of cases. “As the children age, the first-born often play the role of teacher, tutor, and disciplinarian, expected by parents to help care for younger siblings” (Schultz & Schultz, pg. 123, 2013). My sister was our babysitter when my parents would go out and was always viewed in my brother and my eyes as someone of authority. In regards to my older brother, who is the middle child in our family, it seems as though one aspect of Alder’s theory may be evident in my brother. The book stated that middle siblings are not concerned with power because they never experience the attention the oldest sibling gets when they were the only child. The book states, “ If the older siblings excels in sports or scholarship, the

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