I have always been grateful for growing up with siblings. I don't think life as an only child would have suited me well. But as far as sibling order goes, I may not have lucked out. I was not the first born, greatly anticipated oldest child and I was not the youngest baby, doted upon forever and all eternity. No, I am the famous (or infamous) middle child.

We middle children have a very unique spot in the hierarchy of our family unit. I am here to shed some light on the perks and disadvantages to being in the center of a sibling sandwich.

You learn to share quickly.

This is definitely a valuable skill to have. Nothing is ever just yours for long, whether it be clothes, toys, or your privacy.

Hand-me-downs.

As mentioned, one of the things you learn to share is clothing. Either you are stuck in last year's fashions from your older sibling, or you get the joy of watching your younger sibling walk around in your favorite pieces of clothing. Either way, it's a real treat.

Being old enough to look after your younger siblings but not old enough to be "in charge."

This one is the WORST. Yeah, you're still responsible for taking care of your younger siblings when your parents are gone, but you're not quite old enough to be put "in charge", so your rules don't actually matter.

You have older siblings to drive you around.

Sure, maybe they just got their license and are not the best drivers yet. But hey, any driver is better than no driver, right?

You have to play chauffeur.

Once you got your license, you became the designated chauffeur for your younger siblings if your parents were busy. Getting your license didn't necessarily mean more freedom, just more responsibility.

You had rules that your younger siblings don't.

Let's face it, your parents are tired of enforcing the rules they had rigidly set for you. For your younger siblings, curfews get a little later, most of their plans are approved, and the list of questions asked before each time you went out gets shorter and shorter.

Nothing is new or confusing to your parents anymore.

Your parents have "been there, done that" with pretty much everything by the time it's your turn, which is great for you! Less stressed parent = happy middle child.

You'll never have your own room.

Privacy? What's that? You got plopped into the same room as your older sibling and once they moved on, you got stuck with your younger sibling. Maybe you'll finally get your own room when you head off to college, but probably not.

You learned to play the parent at a very young age.

Although it wasn't always appreciated, you learned how to fill the role of Mom or Dad pretty quickly. If something wasn't right or your siblings were fighting and your parents weren't around, you took it upon your self to step in and restore the peace.

Learning to stand out was crucial.

Sometimes your accomplishments were overshadowed by those of your older sibling or you weren't quite as adorable as your little sibling was. That's when learning to be weird and unique came in handy.

Teachers never really know you.

"You're So and So's younger sibling, aren't you?" "Oh, I loved having your brother/sister in class!" "Say hi to [insert sibling's name here] for me!"

There certainly are ups and downs to being smack dab in the middle of your siblings. But I think we middle children learn valuable lessons at a young age. Sharing, parenting, patience, and communication are just a few of them. So precious first borns and adorable youngest children, you can keep your spots! We middle children will stay right where we are, probably going unnoticed, but don't worry, we're used to it.