As the oldest of nine in my family, I’ve learned all the tricks to surviving. Here they are to help you survive!

1. Expect the unexpected: I never thought I’d be an older sibling let alone have 8 siblings. I was an only child for 7 years, and now my youngest sibling is 10 months old. There’s so many unexpected things that have happened to me, and my siblings. My parents divorce, my dad having two more kids after my mom and him getting engaged. You just have to learn to role with the punches and find the positive in everything.
2. Being the 3^rd parent: As a kid I was always wanting to be around adults, I didn’t have anyone to hangout with, so I hung out with my parents. They became my best friends and as the oldest you learn to talk to your parents about all the things your siblings do and say. You help bathe them, feed them and play with them. You definitely yell at them about stuff all the time, what they should and shouldn’t do.
3. Constantly being asked weird questions: We all know that one kid who is always asking dumb questions, either about something you’ve already said or just something out of the blue. All the time you’ll be in a conversation and one of them will but in with a “What?” and you get really irritated you really want to yell. But you have to remember they’re only 7 and are just curious.
4. Always being protective: Whether they get under your skin or not, you still have to love and protect them. Talking from experience being bullied is something I’d never wish on my worst enemy. My sister was being bullied by some girl who was just jealous of her, and my first reaction was to talk to their big sibling and work thing out with our parents getting involved. Giving the best advice you can about boyfriends or girlfriends and protecting them from anything that happens to threaten them.
5. Diaper Changes: I’ve quite literally changed hundreds of diapers, no joke, too many to count. Changing diapers comes with the territory, its something that you most definitely will never forget but want to.
6. Being a chauffeur: When you get to the age where you can drive, you automatically become the driver for everyone in the household. Having to get the groceries and picking kids up from practices and rehearsals gets old real quick. You’re constantly in the car driving, having to listen to kids music and them complaining about how they dropped something and can’t pick it up.
7. Never sleeping: From the moment your parents bring home your first sibling, you’ll never sleep again. From the crying all night long as a new born baby, to when they’re 10 and have a bad dream, they’ll keep you awake all night.
8. You’re always being watched: Everything you do they look up to, and I mean everything. Every time you sneeze or fall down they watch and want to be just like you. You could slip up and do something wrong and they want to do it too, because you did it.
9. But you’d do anything for them: Even though they literally are a pain in the butt, you wouldn’t trade them for the world. They’re yours and you love them are proud to be their big sibling. Every great moment you had they were there, and now you have to be there for them.

Even though they’re a pain, their your pain. I know I wouldn’t trade anything in the world for my siblings and I wouldn’t trade being their big sister because without them who would they be and who would I be.