The negative things

Joyce: okay, listen — we said on the program yesterday, and I’m trying to keep my word here because we’ve got so many subjects that are so interesting…

Dr. Leman: you’re a firstborn.

Joyce: yeah.

Dr. Leman: okay, so you want order.  I’m a baby; I couldn’t care less.

Joyce: right.

Dr. Leman: so you’re going to have to right the ship. What do you want to talk about?

Joyce: okay — birth order.

Dr. Leman: okay.  There are themes with you firstborns: you’ll remember the negative things. You’ll remember falling off the bike.

Joyce: why is that?

Dr. Leman: because the firstborns were guinea pigs for parents.  There’s not a firstborn living who hasn’t gone to their mom or dad and said, “Wait a minute — you’re not going to let her do that, are you?  You never let me do that when i was her age.” okay.  Or how about this one: “i don’t care what he did. Do you understand me? You are the oldest. I expect a little bit more out of you, young woman or young man.” and so here’s the little firstborn and you watch kids growing up… They’re three or four years old and they take their “Thomas the trains” and they’ll line them up perfectly, or their little cds, they’ll line them up perfectly. The little tag in the back of the shirt drives the firstborn kid up the wall. The socks that have the seam wrong in them, drives them… It’s the little things.

Joyce: i still cut tags out of my clothes.  I can’t stand them.

Dr. Leman: but that’s a firstborn quality. And there’s the youngest child — the other extreme — he’s walking around with his underwear tucked in his back pocket and couldn’t care less.

Joyce: what happens to the middle ones?