RD201906

But What He Really Wants ...

While my mother was pregnant

with me, my parents warned my

three-year-old brother not to get his

heart set on either a brother or a

sister, as they didn’t know what I

would be. He seemed to understand

but added this caveat: “Well, if it’s

a dog, I hope it’s a boxer.”

—Kathleen O’Hagan

Congress, Arizona

The Long Sufferer

Ours was a family of eight children,

but only one boy. One day, I was

complaining to my brother about

having six annoying sisters. He

wasn’t having it. “What are you grip-

ing about?” he said. “I have seven!”

—Donna Ayer Rockport, Indiana

Boys Will Be Boys

I am one of four boys, and, true

to stereotype, we fought. During

one scuffle, Mom had had enough.

She broke it up and demanded,

“Who started this?”

My brother Wes wheeled around,

pointed at me, and cried, “He hit

back first!”

—Steve Walhood

Battle Ground, Washington

Been There, Done That

Like all Americans, my family was

ecstatic when Apollo 11 landed on the

moon. Well, most of us. My blasé six-

year-old sister wondered, “What’s the

big deal about a man going to the

moon when the cow jumped over it?”

—Sandra Durkin Mars, Pennsylvania

✦Being the youngest child

means no matter how old you get,

you’re always going to be stuck in

the middle seat of the car.

—@cocotoomajian

✦As a middle child, I always

considered my brothers to

be the bookends. Which

makes me the book.

—@JoshMalerman

✦Being the oldest

sibling really means

buying all the gifts and

putting “From all of us”

on the tag.

—@_xlexxuh

What

Your Birth

Order

Means

80 june 2019

Reader’s Digest