At least that’s the common belief. But I have to tell you, it ain’t true. I may have played at being a princess with my friends, but it definitely wasn’t what I wanted for my life. I wanted to be an actor or a writer. (And there was a brief stint of wanting to be a waitress. Yeah, I don’t know what that was about. I’m sure my career aspirations scared the mess out of my logical, practical parents.)
We’ve romanticized the idea of being a princess. It means being special, wealthy, loved. And so we think, “hey, if we can make girls feel like princesses, they’ll understand their self-worth.”
Sometimes I’m plagued by who I should be, things I should do.
I should be the kind of wife who makes supper for her husband every night. I should clean the bathroom every week. I should get up early and be happy about it. I should hum cheerfully while I dust.
Should, should, should.
Everyone’s got an opinion. Family especially. They’re all too happy to share their ideas on what a good wife is. They offer prescriptive rules dominated by the should clause. (more…)
I’m onto you, it read. I know you have just skipped the first eight chapters and started right here. I set the book down, a little creeped out. How did the author know?
It wasn’t some sort of magical, mind-reading book. It was The Birth Order Book by Dr. Kevin Leman, and I was a middle-schooler seeking to understand myself and my family. It may have been the book that sparked my interest in personality psychology.
First born, only, middle, baby. Your birth order has an impact on your personality. When it comes to the classic nature versus nurture debate, birth order captures the nurture side of things. It’s all about the environment you found yourself in as a child. (more…)