Being the youngest wasn’t always the best feeling growing up, especially for me -- considering I am 19 years apart from my oldest brother, and nine years apart from the other two. I was always the one who felt left out of things because I was never old enough to do anything they did with each other. But with that being said, my parents raised three kids before me, so when I came along it was old news so I found my own personal perks in being the baby.
1. Teachers knew your name before you even stepped into class.
This can either be a good thing or bad thing but this was the biggest perk for me. I remember walking into class and the first thing that came out of any of my teacher's mouth was, “are you Paul and Joe’s sister?” Normally it was a good thing and I knew I could get away with murder, but other times I was terrified of even answering that question.
2. Your own personal bodyguards.
You never have to worry about anyone picking on you or hurting you because if they mess with you, they mess with them, and in my case they had three of them to go through.
3. The hand-me-downs.
You will never have to spend money on clothes because you will always have something of theirs, but as time goes on, you get older and then you might end up having to share your clothes with your older sister -- but the occasional sweatshirt or sweatpants from your brothers are good too.
4. Life lessons.
You will forever learn from your siblings' mistakes. Maybe your brother or sister got sloppy drunk at a party and slept on the bathroom floor, and maybe you saw how pissed off mom and dad got so now you will never ever come home drunk like that again.
5. You are set with having best friends for the rest of your life.
They will always be there for you. You don’t even need to go looking because they are right there.
I don’t know about anyone else but I am the luckiest girl in the world to be able to call my older siblings my role models, my teachers, my shoulders to cry on and my best friend’s. Oh, and obviously being the youngest, I am -- and forever will be -- the favorite child.
