Birth order - why the third child is the easiest!
It's official!
When the Queen failed to turn up to Prince Louis’ christening the poor little royal was regarded as the victim of ‘third child syndrome’.
Clearly the fifth in line to the throne wasn’t important enough to warrant Her Majesty’s presence, but is the notion of the neglected third child really warranted? Sure, no-one visits you in hospital when you’re born and photographs are thin on the ground, but here’s a few reasons why it’s best to be number three!
YOU’LL GET AWAY WITH MORE
Parents practise on number one and try to do better with number two, but when a third child arrives they’re chilled and lenient. Curfew? What curfew?
YOU’LL BE CALLED THE WRONG NAME
This will make you resilient and adaptable, and if you can answer to three names then doubtless more opportunities will come your way.
YOU GET EVERYTHING EARLIER
While your siblings had to wait to get a mobile phone, a new bike, and a later bedtime, no-one will care how long you spend on technology, and if you even have a bedtime.
YOU GET THE SMALLEST ROOM
But when your older siblings leave home, you can have the run of the place. Unless, of course, you’re Prince Louis, in which case you’ll have a dozen castles and palaces to spread out in.
YOU’RE A RISK TAKER
Clinical psychologist Linda Blair says third-borns are more relaxed. ‘These are the children most likely to be creative and risk takers. They can try anything. That third has lots of people to look up to.’
NO-ONE HAS EXPECTATIONS OF YOU
No expectations will mean that anything you do achieve will be greeted with total surprise and delight.
YOU’RE SELF-AMUSING
You’ve sat through sports matches and music concerts watching your older siblings and have had to come up with your own amusement. This will bode well for the rest of your life. You had to be self-sufficient. No-one remembered to pick you up, so you had to organise your own lifts and your own dinners.
YOU’RE CUTE
Everyone loves (and forgives) the youngest kid.
FINALLY, IF YOU’RE A PRINCE AND A THIRD CHILD, YOU’RE UNLIKELY TO BECOME KING
Lucky little Louis gets to do whatever he likes with his life!
This story first appeared on New Idea
I grew up in New Zealand, moved to London in my early 20s to work on British newspapers then moved to Australia when I was pregnant with my first child. I write a newspaper column, celebrity interviews and a parenting page. I also do TV and radio commentary, podcasting and host corporate events. I’ve also published a book on parenting, The Smallest Things. However, my greatest role – and the one I’m most proud of – is parenting my daughters, Eliza and Lilibelle, who are 17 and 14.
