Birth Order

Lee has posted this month's SBQ. She asks:

Where do you fall in the birth order of your family? Do you think that birth order traits have had an effect on your choice of hobby and craft? How so?

Let's see. I'm the oldest of three, but because of the timing/spacing of us, I've often said that my mother has 3 "oldest" children. That's not entirely true, as my sister shows most of the traits of being the middle child, with a few of the oldest child traits. My brother, on the other hand, is truly both an "oldest" and a "youngest" in his characteristics. I also have 3 step-sisters, but they didn't live with me growing up, so they didn't affect the dynamic for me.

I think the need to craft comes from having to fill the time during long winters more than my birth order. And also maybe because we needed to make gifts instead of buy them. All 3 of us kids are handy or crafty. My sister likes to sew. My brother does woodworking.

On the other hand, two of my best friends from college are the oldest and neither of them is crafty. I once mentioned to one of them that I didn't think she had the "crafty" gene. She was terribly insulted. She can fix things, and she can sew, but she really doesn't craft as a hobby. She'd much rather spend her free time outside in her garden.

I do think my oldest child perfectionist tendencies led me to cross-stitching. I like things very neat and orderly. I don't like free form embroidery because I can't make uniform stitches. I'm not an artist or a musician, but cross-stitch allows me the freedom to create, which I very much need. It's also part of why I like baking over cooking (baking is all about measurements and timing) and basketweaving (lining everything up). I've gotten better over the years about "winging it", but I'm still out of my comfort zone when I don't have a plan/pattern/recipe/model to follow. I am pretty good, though, at adapting from the plan to make it uniquely mine.