I am the youngest one among six children and that's not all I am the youngest one even if my cousins are included. I have spent almost thirty years of my life in a big joint family and it was a pleasure. Being the youngest I was free from taking any financial responsibility but my parents and guardians were very particular about infusing the basic responsibilities in me. Naturally, I learnt  how to  take care of family members when they were ill, taught to share the day to day household duties, understood the importance of sharing not just the goodies but the pains of others and that helped me to manage my house relatively quite easily after my marriage. Thus, I feel order of birth may take a toll in some families regarding monetary issues but it all depends upon the parents and guardians, how they handle the children. If young ones are given all freedom then they will never learn any duty which is pathetic and for this the elderly family members are mostly responsible.

Arunima Singh wrote:

Kalyani Nandurkar wrote:

yes, the order totally shapes and affects a person's personality. As for me, I was the middle one, so was almost always ignored to a lot of extent, It is even now a cause of grief for me! :)

I have heard that from many of my friends who were the middle one. They felt that they were ignored as the parents were busy with younger ones and older ones were independent. But from a parents viewpoint, they loved all equally but the lack of skill took the toll and it was not conveyed properly. But without doubt, it is unintentional.

I have friends in middle order who complain that they were forced to call their elder siblings with respect which they disliked. Many a times they were directed to elder siblings by their parent who was busy with handling younger one. So many of their issues were not properly resolved as they were sent to elder siblings and they were not so mature and skilled to resolve it well. These incidences cause a lot  of grief in the child and when he/she becomes adult as our childhood stays with us forever

Exactly, it is the same story with middle siblings everywhere. Although like Usha has said, it was unintentional, It did got me upset on multiple occasions. Of course, now as an adult I have gotten over that and understand now why it happened so I can just take it with a pinch of salt and let it go!

Kalyani Nandurkar wrote:

Arunima Singh wrote:

Kalyani Nandurkar wrote:

yes, the order totally shapes and affects a person's personality. As for me, I was the middle one, so was almost always ignored to a lot of extent, It is even now a cause of grief for me! :)

I have heard that from many of my friends who were the middle one. They felt that they were ignored as the parents were busy with younger ones and older ones were independent. But from a parents viewpoint, they loved all equally but the lack of skill took the toll and it was not conveyed properly. But without doubt, it is unintentional.

I have friends in middle order who complain that they were forced to call their elder siblings with respect which they disliked. Many a times they were directed to elder siblings by their parent who was busy with handling younger one. So many of their issues were not properly resolved as they were sent to elder siblings and they were not so mature and skilled to resolve it well. These incidences cause a lot  of grief in the child and when he/she becomes adult as our childhood stays with us forever

Exactly, it is the same story with middle siblings everywhere. Although like Usha has said, it was unintentional, It did got me upset on multiple occasions. Of course, now as an adult I have gotten over that and understand now why it happened so I can just take it with a pinch of salt and let it go!

In many ways I feel that even the eldest child suffers in some ways because parents expect the eldest child esp a daughter take on all the burden including looking after the younger sisters and brothers > i am the eldest in my family and although my mother was balanced I still was made aware of the fact that being the eldest I had to be more responsible. I feel even this is unfair because in many households they are not even allowed to enjoy themselves in the company of friends .

I even feel that elder siblings have more pressure to perform as they are always reminded that the younger ones are watching them and they should be a guide and role model for younger ones. 

An article I came across on the subject which seems to be quote true as far as my own self and my children are concerned..

http://www.organichealthuniverse.com/2016/08/21/birthday-order-determines-personality/

usha manohar wrote:

An article I came across on the subject which seems to be quote true as far as my own self and my children are concerned..

http://www.organichealthuniverse.com/2016/08/21/birthday-order-determines-personality/

Nice! very true for most of the cases that I have talked to or witnessed. Thanks for sharing

For me order of birth is not important. It depends on person how he/she like to assume responsibilty. I have one elder brother and one younger sister. But is my house I enjoy all rights of a elder one because I am more active that my elder one. I was senior in collage of my brother and I am also got married prior to my elder brother. 

Of course there are bond to be exceptions and depending on the circumstances ,one can always mould oneself differently. I have seen some households where the youngest child is the most responsible person managing the entire household. What is being discussed is here is what could and does happen in most households..

The elders definitely are expected to take greater responsibilities than the youngers. And they are taught that at an early age. For instance when they go out for playing together if they are not accompanied by an elder, the eldest sibling is told to take care of the youngers. Likewise the younger siblings are pampered by everyone around them including their elder siblings.

I was the eldest in the Family. Normally eldest son takes the responsibilities of running the family. I took the responsibility. The things went on normally until I attained the age 16. It was then, I was affected by Glaucoma any eye related problem. It was then, My younger sister, though she was married and living in Hyderabad took me  to Hyderabad and got my eyes operated. Hence it all depends on the circumstances. Order of Birth may  or may not play a role in defining the the person you are.