Anyone who is a fellow eldest child can relate. There's a first time for everything and luckily for your parents, you happened first! Here are a few things that suck about being the oldest child:
- You’re the guinea pig for everything. Sometimes this is cool, but most times people may refer to you as the imperfect version of your younger siblings. Your parents had no clue how to do parenting when you were born, so you faced some challenges while growing up. But somehow, you made it.
- People will refer to you as the imperfect version of your younger siblings. “Guess your parents didn’t get it right the first time, so they had to try again!” Sometimes this gives you more leeway when you screw up, but most times, it kind of sucks.
- You have no older, wiser brother or sister to look up to while growing up. In fact, you are that older sibling they look up to and you have so much to teach them. You lusted after your friends' older siblings while growing up and eternally wished you had been a middle child —the perfect medium—.
- Your parents are probably super strict on you. Unlike your "perfect" little siblings, you have always been the one they had to keep a closer eye on. You’re somewhat of a rebel, and they know it.
- Your parents expect you to be the ‘bigger person’ when fighting with your immature little sibs. “I don’t care who started it, you end it!” I can’t tell you how many times I’ve heard these words come out of my mother’s mouth. Sometimes it’s just so hard to let that sly, annoying little brother get away with everything, and by ‘ending it’ you’re really just letting him win.
- You’re the built-in babysitter. This has given you a sort of power complex over your younger siblings that they will hate you forever for. It’s hard to be the older sibling they love but also respect when Mom and Dad are gone.
- You have to set a good example for your sibs. This one seems to get more and more difficult as we get older. “No, I wasn’t shotgunning a beer in that photo, there was something on the can … I was removing it with my tongue …” You’ll tell your 15-year-old brother this when he asks about your Instagram post. It’s all about balance: being a badass, but knowing how to cover it up.
- You’re responsible for pretty much everything that happens when your parents leave. Say your sibs get into a fight. You intervene trying to be the responsible adult here, and now somehow it’s your fault. “Why didn’t you just mind your own business!?” asks your father. However, you know if you hadn’t, there would have been hell to pay. It’s a lose-lose situation.
- Your parents just don’t get you. If you’re like me and neither of your parents are the eldest, then you’re screwed. They only know life as the younger sibling and they can’t empathize with you. They try, but it’s just not the same.
- Despite the challenges, being the oldest actually does have its perks. Who else is going to show your little sibs the ropes of ~life~? You get to be the one they look up to and model their own lives after, so try not to screw up too much.
