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About Siletz news / (Siletz, OR) 199?-current | View Entire Issue (May 1, 2010)
- 5 Bf í ...... New Babies! Logan Bradley Sweitz Giovanni Isaiah Hernandez We would like to welcome baby Giovanni Isaiah Hernandez to our fam LaiLa Mae Butler ily. He was born March 30, 2010. He LaiLa Mae Butler was bom March 11, weighed 8 pounds, 11 ounces and was 19 2010, at 10:24 a.m. She weighed 8 pounds, inches long. 3 ounces and was 20 inches long. Proud parents are Alex Hernandez Proud parents are Linh Hang and Levi and Heidi Mason, plus proud big brothers Butler, plus Grandma Bird and Great Mylz and Cyrus Hernandez. Grandma Laverne. Joshua Michael Solis Joshua Michael Solis was born at 10:11 a.m. on Jan. 15, 2010. He weighed 8 pounds, 1 ounce. Proud parents are Sheila Anne Warren and Jacob Solis. Dreams do come true! And ours has again with Logan Bradley Sweitz. Logan was bom March 26, 2010, at 8:25 a.m. He weighed 8 pounds, 1 ounce and was 20 inches long. Proud parents are JR and Priscilla Sweitz, plus proud big brother Connor. Maternal grandparents are Jim and Pat Fredrickson, Auntie Trisha Butler and cousins Savanna and Shahayla Butler. Great-grandparents were the late Alton Butler and Edythe Logan. Paternal grandparents are JB and Ta mara Sweitz and Auntie Shannon Sweitz. Great-grandparents are Arnold and Mary Lou McMillen, Marie Kauffman and the late Morris Kauffman. And many more aunties, uncles and cousins. We love you, Logan! May Notes from the Healthy Family Healthy Child Project HONOR-There was, and is, no high- er honor than to defend one’s people. It’s a philosophy summed up in words spoken to fighting men of old: “Go forth boldly and be the first to face the enemy, for it is better to lay a warrior, naked in death, than to be wrapped up well with a heart of water inside.” Today, there are many ways for all of us to defend our people, whether by word, thought or deed — and we should remember that honor rides a red horse. * I don’t remember the day, but I do remember the class I was attending at the University of Oregon. It was on child de velopment. The discussion that morning was on “why our kids do what they do.” As my mentor, Dr. Carolynn Morris, lectured she stated that a lot of what our kids do and why they came to do it could be attributed to their birth order. Birth order? That statement and the following discussion caught my attention for some reason and I became fascinated with what she said. Although each child is unique and brings different attributes to the family circle, Dr. Morris suggested that common traits were seen in a very high percentage of our kids depending on whether they were the oldest child, the middle child, the youngest child or an only child. A lot of debate has always occurred among psychologists and child develop ment experts about whether or not birth order has an impact on a child’s person ality and behavior or their personal char acteristics. Some say yes and, of course, some say no. Dr Morris told us the real truth is probably that birth order can play a role in having an impact on a child’s personality, but it’s only one factor out of many that contribute to the total personality your child develops. Here is a look at some of the most common traits believed to be associated with specific birth placement: Oldest Children: The oldest chil dren often tend to bear the brunt of re sponsibility for their younger siblings. They often are placed in a care-providing and protective role for the younger sib lings and therefore may tend to be more responsible in their lives in general. This can result in a desire to control the people and situations around them. Oldest children are usually the “good” children of the family who follow the rules and set the examples for younger children. They are children who often are pampered and spoiled. They tend to be conservative in their outlook, which can be both a strength and a weakness. They have the ability to focus on a goal and their pro pensity to organize others means they can achieve whatever they put their minds to. Other positive traits typically associ ated with oldest children include their leadership abilities and ambition. Often in later life, they become very success ful. A disproportionate number of U.S. presidents and Fortune 500 CEOs have been eldest children. Middle Children: Middle children often have a difficult time trying to figure out who they are and what their role is within the family. The middle child is al ways competing with both the oldest and the youngest children in the family. This often causes the middle child to do things to get attention, such as acting out or devel oping outgoing characteristics that garner him/her the attention that is desired. The middle child often is the peace maker in the family, trying to find solutions to problems within the family. They are the compromisers and the flexible operators. They are likely to be motivated by a cause and enjoy working alongside people. Friendships are important to this group, so they learn to get along and help keep the peace in a group or organization. They of ten need others to drive them, but they are the glue that holds a group together. Other positive traits typically associ ated with middle children include an abil ity to get along with almost anyone and a generally easygoing approach to life. Youngest Children: It’s typically believed that the youngest children are used to having things taken care of for them and therefore don’t learn to do things for themselves and are always trying to catch up to older siblings. At the same time, this child often is spoiled and ex pects to receive what he or she wants. The youngest are the initiators, the idea people and the challengers. They are creative, live-for-the-moment people who can put some fun and excitement into activities. They often tend to take things more seriously than the other children. They are great initiators and very impatient doers. They persevere to get something started, but often are not the greatest of finishers. Positive traits associated with being the youngest child include a strong sense of creativity and a sense of humor. They, if it’s going to be done at all, will be the mind blowers. Only Children: Only children are considered to be in a different category than other children because they do not have sibling interaction and therefore grow up primarily around adults. Only children who grow up as the sole center of parental attention may have trouble separating from parents, difficulty getting along with other children and may seek to always be the center of attention since that is what the child is used to at home. They are the quiet achievers, the finishers. They often expect nothing less than the best. This group will raise the bar for everyone around them as nothing but the best will do. Their great strength is their ability to work for long periods of time on their own, so they make great project finishers and strategic thinkers, but they can be se cretive and don’t deal well with conflict. Positive traits of the only child in clude a sense of maturity and a strong sense of self-control. Above all else, the “only” aims to please. It is this writer's opinion that some merit can be given to the role that birth order plays in creating personalities, however, it’s not the defining charac teristic for most people’s psychological development. The interaction between siblings cer tainly plays a role in teaching kids how to interact with the rest of the world around them, so it makes sense that someone growing up in the role of an eldest child/ caretaker might behave differently in so ciety than someone growing up in the role of the baby of the family. So many other things influence the interactions between family members, however, that it doesn’t seem safe to assume that birth order alone will determine how your kids act. Most people, when they read the characteristics of birth order, can recog nize some of the traits described above within themselves as well as with their children. They nod and they chuckle. We hope you will be able to have some fun with this article. May 2010 • Siletz News • 13
