firstborn babies

There is something about birth order that is quite interesting to me. I have not made a deep study about it or anything, but I find it interesting how children seem to take their place in a family as if it is innately theirs. I am sure it is part nature, part nurture...but I am always amazed by the differences between my children due, in part, to the order they arrived in our family.

Jenny is our firstborn. Not only is she the firstborn, but she is the firstborn daughter, which is a role in and of itself. Because she was my first, it wasn't apparent right away what kind of responsible/caregiver role she would adopt. That seemed to manifest itself when she became a big sister. Jenny is so responsible. She seems to take the weight of the world on her shoulders and I find that I need to make sure she doesn't burden herself with things that she just doesn't need to bear at this point in her life. I appreciate the way she sees a need and gets it done. If I have had a bad day, she makes it her responsibility to make it brighter by doing household chores, helping with her siblings, and being cheerful, loving, and kind. She can be very intuitive. Being a daughter means she acts like a little mother. Most of the time I appreciate this, however there are the times that I have to remind her who the mom is, as it comes naturally to her to mother her siblings. I am so proud of who she's become and her confidence, compassion, and empathy at such a young age. She started me on the journey of motherhood and because of this, I count her as one of my greatest teachers. I just hope she survives the ride.