The Secret Power of Middle Children

The Secret Power of Middle Children

We tend to think that:
Oldest children become leaders.
Youngest children remain treasured babies.
And what about the middle child? That unfortunate child, the Middle Child Myth prophesizes, will grow up resentful, neglected, nothing special.

But as a middle child myself, as well as the mother of four middle children, I was happy to read the following quotation from “The Secret Power of Middle Children,” by co-authors Catherine Salmon and Katrin Schumann.
“Contrary to expectations, middleborns are agents of change in business, politics, and science — more so than firstborns or lastborns. Middles are self-aware team players with remarkable diplomatic skills. Because they’re both outgoing and flexible, they tend to deal well with others—in the workplace and at home. They’re more motivated by fairness than money when making life choices, and have a deep sense of family, friends, and loyalty. History shows them to be risk takers and trailblazers, yet they do suffer needlessly from poor self-esteem.”

Isn’t that nice? I am middleborn, hear me roar!

Photo courtesy of Flickr.com user Ivy Dawned

4 comments

  1. Chana, I’m a middle child too (middle of three sisters)! 🙂

  2. My husband and I are always trying hard to give our middle child lots of extra attention. When there’s a treat or something special, we always give to her first. That’s because naturally the oldest gets attention by being louder and cooler and the baby naturally gets all the kisses and cooing.

  3. YAY! Thanks for using my pic. I love to see them used for projects such as this.

    Any chance of a link back to the photo at http://www.flickr.com/photos/ivydawned/4482483967/ ?

  4. Love this! For a while I was worried about my middle one as a worrying teacher prophesied that her older brother would dominate her. I believed (and continue to believe) in her personal strength and qualities. Reading this just affirmed that belief. Thanks!

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