Our son Edmund is 12 today. Not quite a teenager, but no longer a child. He shares his birthday with famous Poles; author Joseph Conrad (Heart of Darkness, the Secret Agent etc) and ski-jumper Adam Malysz (four times world champion).
Wikipedia's eclectic list of December 3 births makes me think that birth date as determinant of character is rather specious. Would have been a time when commonality due to birth date would be to do with a mother's nutrition during pregnancy (autumn-born children's mothers would have had access to better food than spring-born children); but not any more. "It is the stars, the stars above us, govern our conditions', said Kent in Shakespeare's King Lear. The stars? Phooey!
Birth order seems to be more deterministic. First born children are on average taller, and have higher IQs than younger siblings, while younger siblings have sharper elbows and are readier to take risks. Discussing this on Saturday at Eddie's birthday party with his friends' parents confirmed this in seven out of eight cases!
Happy Birthday to Eddie from me, too!
ReplyDeleteIt's interesting to read what you said about birth order, but the height thing definitely didn't work with my younger brother and me. Oh well, can't have everything! :)