Birth order and cooking

[blissful]

So as not to highjack a thread. How many of you are first borns, how many of you are middle children and how many of you are youngest children with your siblings.
It can be plain or it can be complicated. Some 'first born' types are the first of one gender or another, some are 'onlies'. First borns happen when there is no other sibling for 5 years before them of the same gender.
Middles, are middles either gender, or middles can be the second born of one gender or another. Depending on if the family is patriachal or matriarchal (sp?), children are considered by the number of years since the last of the same gender, based on the type of family. Matriachal families create this 'order' of the females, patriarchahal families create this 'order' of the males.
Same with the youngest child, in either case by gender it depends on the number of years since the previous sibling of the same gender.
Each are known for their traits by category.
First borns/only children are known by their independence and they forge ahead learning or creating new things. They explore the world. Are some of these our cooks?
Middle children are known by their competition with the older siblings. Again, they may be the new cooks.
They have more positive attributes too. They compete in every area.
Youngest children are known to get along with the first borns/only children as well as the middle children. (in all walks--home, work, school, life) To the youngest, creating and perfecting recipes or sharing ideas or performing on TV cooking is only part of sharing the 'love of cooking'.
Your experience, your ideas?

 

[Katie H]

I'm the oldest of 7, but only 5 of us survived. Next one after me lived a short while and number 4 was stillborn.

At an early age (8) I was thrust into serving as caretaker of my 4 younger siblings, which included cooking, parenting, housekeeping, etc. I didn't really have much of a chance to have a childhood. Thankfully, Buck nurtured me and allowed me to enjoy childlike times.

As a result of my childhood experience, I became very independent when I finally left home after graduating high school, but never shook the caretaker role.

While in college I lived with and took care of my grandfather and grandmother as he was dying of cancer. Then I married the first time and took on a husband (widower) with a young son. Shortly after I married him and had two of our 3 children, my father died and I became the legal guardian of my two younger sisters.

By the time I was 24, I was a mother/stepmother/guardian of 5 children.

Since then, second marriage to Buck and stepmother again to his 2 sons so, you see, I'm ever the caretaker.

 

[blissful]

i'm a first born. I'm driven, independent and creative. My sister was born 5 years after me, I think she is a first born too, highly driven, independent, creative. My first brother was what seemed to be in competition with me, and my youngest brother was my closest friend in the family.
My sister and I are by far the most creative cooks, independent, finished degrees and pursued careers, my brothers did other things. We were in a matriachal family during our early years. So my mom set the precident on how things would be done.

 

[blissful]

I'm the oldest of 7, but only 5 of us survived. Next one after me lived a short while and number 4 was stillborn.

At an early age (8) I was thrust into serving as caretaker of my 4 younger siblings, which included cooking, parenting, housekeeping, etc. I didn't really have much of a chance to have a childhood. Thankfully, Buck nurtured me and allowed me to enjoy childlike times.

As a result of my childhood experience, I became very independent when I finally left home after graduating high school, but never shook the caretaker role.

While in college I lived with and took care of my grandfather and grandmother as he was dying of cancer. Then I married the first time and took on a husband (widower) with a young son. Shortly after I married him and had two of our 3 children, my father died and I became the legal guardian of my two younger sisters.

By the time I was 24, I was a mother/stepmother/guardian of 5 children.

Since then, second marriage to Buck and stepmother again to his 2 sons so, you see, I'm ever the caretaker.

Yes you are, and you are obviously a saint too. How sweet that you took care of so many people! Sometimes the things in life, are tough, but through hard work you've taken care of those people. That is an awesome thing to do. I'd be glad to have you as a friend, no, maybe the word is 'proud' to have you as a friend. You've done so much good for so many people. Thank you.

 

[Andy M.]

I have a half brother who is 23 years older than I. We never lived under the same roof.

I have a sister who is 9 years older than I.

I am a male.

So I guess I'm a youngest first born but don't fit the description.

 

[Katie H]

Thanks, Bliss. You're sweet.

Through all those journeys I cooked myself silly. Some of the things the children comment on the most are the fun times they had at the dinner table. I can't even imagine how many meals I've cooked and I enjoyed cooking each and every one.

The icing on the cake is that almost all of the children have a genuine love of cooking and are great cooks.

 

[LadyCook61]

I'm the oldest of 6 . I learned to cook as a young child , helped my mother with the other children. I'm 14 yrs older than the youngest.

 

[Andy M.]

I have a half brother who is 23 years older than I. We never lived under the same roof.

I have a sister who is 9 years older than I.

I am a male.

So I guess I'm a youngest first born but don't fit the description.

To expand on this...

I'm more in the youngest category than the first born. I was always interested in cooking a a kid, watching my parents cook regularly. I didn't get to participate as a young child.

Dad was a chef and I helped him as a teen by typing recipes for his work. He would just dictate them to me off the top of his head.

As a young married, I was not allowed in the kitchen so didn't cook often.

When I divorced about 20 years ago, I finally had the opportunity to exercise my interest in cooking and geared up quickly and have been going strong ever since.

 

[kadesma]

I'm the eldest of two..MY father thought the sun rose and set on my mom and it was that way til the day he left us. I feel I was luckier than my sister as my dad insisted I do certain things and the main being learn to cook. I was responsible for my sister from the very first. Mom worked because my dad was ill and they would not allow him to work..I took care of the house, shopped,picked up after my sister who refused to do her share. I never told on her til we were both grown and I mentioned how she use to refuse to do what her list said each day til I would cry in frustration. Then my mom said well I'd have spanked her had you said something..Kind of late then, but heck,what did I know ? I help clean each saturday, it was required, dad felt mom worked hard and needed a break and I was young and healthy..MY dad was so dear though he would do anything for my sister and me..So I always felt I can do this, and I did..Now I have 6 beautiful grandkids that I'm close to as if they were my own babies, 3 children who spend every Sunday here so we can all be together...They treat me like a queen...I'm loved and even my sons in law are like my own boys..I feel that I just can't give up.. As much as I stress over living like this and hate it..I do it for them. So being eldest is hard at times, but I'm better for it.
kadesma

 

[luvs]

i'm the baby of 2. i learned to cook very early on, around the age of 7. i used to read cookbooks like novels. my older brother liked to make candy & bake, too, around 7th grade.
i'm a lacsidsial yet very uptight 'bout certain stuff.

 

[licia]

I'm the firstborn of 4. I've always felt like most of the child work fell on my shoulders. I'm 2 1/2 years older than my sister, but she was always a tom boy and doing outside stuff. By the time I left home I was doing more cooking than my mom was. She was a good cook but part of the time she was working so I'd have dinner ready for all of them when she and my dad came home from work. Neither of my next two sisters knew anything about cooking when they left home. I'm not sure how they managed that. I have two first borns - our daughter is 7 years older than our son so they are both quite independent and both of them were taught to take care of themselves before they left home. They could cook most anything, take care of their clothes, pick up after themselves. I believe it is important to teach children that they should be able to carry on for themselves.

 

[Loprraine]

I'm the youngest of seven. All seven of us love to cook.

 

[radhuni]

I am eldest of three sisters and we all can cook (people like our cooking).

Unlike many Indian girls we learn cooking very late. Our dad and mom used to tell us that our study is the most important. Once my mom told us,"cooking is very easy and spontaneous, if you really love someone then you can easily prepare food for him or her, and in this way you will learn how to cook by trial and error method"

 

[Alix]

Youngest of 6 here. The way the gaps worked in our family though its almost like I am an only child. There are 9 years between me and the closest sib. (Yes I know I know I was the "mistake" LOL!!!)

 

[Laury]

I'm the second born (daughter) of five. Although I have an older sister, I have many of the traits of a first born. Go figure! Of the 5 of us, I'm the most dedicated and interested cook. Actually that's not saying much, because the others are pretty indifferent to cooking. Well, one brother is pretty self sufficient in the kitchen, or in his case, the galley.

 

[Claire]

I am the eldest of four girls. We're what I consider a well-spaced family, pretty much three years apart, with my youngest sis younger than that, 13 years younger than I. I do think that, as the eldest, I did start to assume responsibility earlier than my sisters did. That isn't a bad thing; I still, at age 54, love to cook. But I did leave home right after high school, with no regrets, ready to take on the world, a characteristic I don't see so often in younger sibs (mine or those of my friends, or children of my friends)(my next younger sister did leave home at 18 as well, but I don't think she wanted to). After 20 years of living nowhere near my family, seeing them every year or three, my husband and I decided to live near them (at this time I was pushing 40). It was interesting to see them all on a day-to-day basis for the years we lived there. I think that birth order definitely affected how we've learned to live. I'm proud of all my sisters, but I do think I benefitted from knowing I needed to make my own way in life at a fairly early age.

A part of the difference between my sisters and me is that my father was still in the military when I turned 18, and we were living in military quarters. I don't know what the rules are now, but in those days if you weren't in college, you had to be out of quarters within a year of high school graduation. College wasn't a realistic option, so I enlisted myself and moved on. My next younger sister got caught in a similar catch 22. College wasn't much for her, either, and my father retired and was moving, so she had to decide, pronto, whether to leave home or leave high school boyfriend/fiancee. I feel that both of us made precipitous decisions based on this. My younger sisters didn't have these pressures ... but who's to know? I'm happy with my life, and have been for the most part, but yes, I do believe that oldest children, middles, and youngest face very different challenges. And yes, I believe eldest are much, much more independent. I never say never or always; of course there are zillions of exceptions. But the eldest children, middles, youngest and onlies who I've met, do have some similar characterics.

 

[licia]

Youngest of 6 here. The way the gaps worked in our family though its almost like I am an only child. There are 9 years between me and the closest sib. (Yes I know I know I was the "mistake" LOL!!!)

Alix, I'm sure you aren't a mistake. I have a niece who has 5 children - 3 boys and 2 girls. The last a little girl has been such a joy to the entire family and has the sweetest personality (all the kids do). She homeschools all of them and the little one likes her paper and crayons when the others are doing their work. She just turned 1 year old.

 

[Alix]

licia thanks! I feel very loved in my family. The story is we are ALL mistakes so I don't feel alone.

 

[Andy M.]

licia thanks! I feel very loved in my family. The story is we are ALL mistakes so I don't feel alone.

Though it was always denied, I've always assumed I was a mistake. My sister is 9 years older than I am and both parents were in their 40s when I was born.

 

[Alix]

Andy the stories are pretty funny, but not what I could share on the open boards. I'll catch up with you later. LOL.