Being the eldest of three siblings, it is fair to say that I have had my share of crazy yet wonderful experiences due to the fact that I am the oldest child in my family. I can speak for most eldest siblings in saying that it certainly is an interesting, fun, and sometimes unfair position to hold in a family. Between the mediating and sometimes the instigating, there is just so much that we are known for as a major representative of the family. Here's a list expressing the frustrations and the joys that accompany the responsibility of being the oldest sibling.

1. You feel an intense frustration when you hear your younger siblings sweet-talk your parents into doing something that you would have never been allowed to do.
   
   
   
2. When one of your younger siblings does something better than you at the time, for example, getting a better ACT score, and you have to act happy for them when you are really kicking yourself.
   
   
   
3. Being the oldest sibling, you were the subject of many more photos than your little brothers or sisters. Therefore, there are considerably more pictures of you found around the house. It’s as if mom and dad just neglected to document the younger ones’ first years.
   
   
   
4. You have a certain eye-roll and head shake combo that follows an embarrassing act that your little sibling commits, because you know, you never acted that way when you were their age.
   
   
   
5. Despite the stigma of “younger siblings annoy their older siblings,” you are actually really, really good at bothering them. In fact, you don’t mean to brag, but you get a reaction out of them almost every time.
   
   
   
6. A small piece of your heart is shattered when you find out that they did end up telling your parents that you stayed out too late or had people over when they were gone.
   
   
   
7. You are the one who does everything first, gets a job first, gets a driver’s license first, graduates high school first, etc. Therefore, your parents generally are more protective over you, and in turn they really struggle with the concept of independence. You then realize, years later, that your siblings are not going through anything close to the struggle you had to endure to get even an ounce of independence.
   
   
   
8. You occasionally catch yourselves showing each other some small sign of affection, whether if it’s having a heart-to-heart or a nice hug, and then you suddenly snap out of it and all vow to never speak of it again.
   
   
   
9. Your siblings just know how to get under your skin. You may think that you have finally gotten them to quit bothering you or that they are actually listen to you, but then they fire back with a snide remark and your faith in their once-existing maturity is lost.
   
   
   
10. Sometimes you just can’t help but offer them your sagest advice even if they refuse to listen to you. You are, after all, their best source of wisdom that is easily accessible with the pressures of young adulthood.
    
    
    
11. It is a well-known fact in your household that when the folks aren’t home, you, as the eldest, are in charge. There is a wonderful sense of authority that comes along with this responsibility, and the fact that your siblings must listen to your every command might have, ahem, inflated your ego a bit in the past.
    
    
    
12. That being said, sometimes you have to instigate a sibling dance party that occurs the ‘rents aren’t home to disapprove of the loud music and downright terrible dance moves.
    
    
    
13. You feel like a secret hero when an argument occurs between the young-ins and you are the conqueror who is able to smartly and calmly stop the chaos currently happening between them. And you suddenly glance into your future and think “Hey, maybe I will end up being a good parent someday.”
    
    
    
14. As you have all gotten older, you have come to realize that you do have this crazy thing that some might call a “sibling bond” that really is a fantastic advantage of being blessed with the once called demons you share a house with. It’s like you guys really do have some sort of telepathy. Or maybe you’ve just spent way too much time together.
    
    
    
15. As you have matured, you have also realized that maybe your younger siblings really aren’t so bad after all. In fact, they might actually have exceeded your standards on the “good younger sib scale.”
    
    
    
16. You know that deep down, you will literally do anything to protect your little siblings. It’s the classic paradox, you are allowed to make fun of them, but if anyone lays a malicious finger on them, you will go full out Mike Tyson on the perpetrator.
    
    
    
17. Having younger siblings is something you would never trade for the world. Despite all the struggles that comes with being the oldest child in the family, you know that the benefits outweigh all the annoyances. Without younger siblings, your life just would not be complete.
    
    

Although we all have our complaints about our siblings, younger or older, we truly would never change our brothers and sisters for the world. There just is nothing quite like a sibling bond. So here’s to you, all the younger siblings out there, you bring us pain, frustration, and stress, but most importantly you make our lives so happy and joy-filled that we, as older siblings, truly do not know what we would do without you.