Her days are numbered

I am the eldest of four children. I imagine share many of my personality traits with other firstborn daughters of the world, but dominance is not one of them. Though I am 19 months her senior, my sister is, without a doubt, the boss of me.

This is not a bad thing. I may have fought it during some of the years we lived together as children in my parents' house, but once the realization was reached, there came a certain comfort: the kind of peace you have when, for better or for worse, a truth is revealed. (In case you're wondering how I became so acutely aware of our standing with one another, well, let's just say it involved years of subtle manipulations and following her around Target.)

Now that I have two children of my own, I find it fascinating to observe their personalities, their native tendencies. These characteristics are revealed almost daily, as the two move through constantly shifting stages of development. I don't know yet who will be more passive and who will be more assertive; however, I can't imagine he'll put up with this much longer.