My Korean hairstylist knows about Norby's arrival in December and asked me if we were planning on having more than one child. I said it would be great if Norby had a baby brother down the line, and she said 'Yes, that is the best combination.'
I asked her to elaborate and she told me that (some) Koreans believe there are certain combos of children's' birth order that are more desirable than others. Based on the assumption of a two-child family, here's the grading system:
Girl then boy = A
Boy then girl = B
Girl then girl = C
Boy then boy = F
I pressed her to find out how one comes to this conclusion and why this alleged system graded the sibling combos like this. She explained that an older girl would help raise the baby brother, but the brother would carry on the family name. There was also the belief that daughters, once grown, take care of their parents when they age, while sons leave them to help take care of their in-laws.
I am not sure if I believe that any one combo is better than another, but I guess my parents get an 'A' for having Caroline first, then me. Even if they're not Korean.
Has anyone ever heard of a grading system like this? If not, do you think there is an optimal birth order combo, or does it not matter?
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