Sibling science

New research finds that firstborns gain higher I.Q. than later born siblings. It’s not so much biology—that later gestations affect the development of babies—but more of family dynamics. Generally, first time parents devote more time to their child, thus giving her better chances of developing intellectually, among other things. However, studies also show that firstborns are often more cautious with decision making, while children born later than their siblings tend to think more out of the box.

Now couple this with previous findings that twins tend to be slower than their singleton siblings—this time, biological factors like shorter gestation periods, which account for more premature twin births, do count more than social influences --- and my entire family is now scientifically mapped out.

I never really considered swapping birth orders with my siblings--I really do like my Evil Ate privileges--especially since now science reveals that I might have gotten the longer end of the stick by accident.