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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
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Siletz News
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