I am the baby of the family. Everyone knows the stereotype: spoiled, gets whatever they want, and is of course, babied. For me, it was a bit different.

I have one older brother. He is kind, smart, funny (yes, even his puns), and compassionate. Growing up, he had a few intellectual disabilities, including moderate ADHD and was on the Asperger spectrum. He was not totally great socially, lacking in the communication department. This gave him an almost arrested development, making him younger in mind than he was body.

I, on the other hand, was too big for my britches. At an early age I was more mature than the rest of my peers. I was bossy, a chatter box, and always did what I was told. Whatever my parents told me to do, I did, and I always followed directions, well, for the most part. For me, I was raised to be above average. To reach the standard of excellence and, most of the time, surpass it. For my parents I was a breeze.

For my brother, on the other hand, it was not that easy. Constant attention and repetitive instructions were always given with chores or homework. His learning disabilities held him back, which meant homework was torture and school was the interrogation room. Our school did not recognize that my brother had struggles, so instead of actually teaching him, they just let him sit there, pencil in hand, trying not to explode under all this pressure.

Since my brother was "different", he was a perfect target for bullying. Since elementary school, there was always a complaint once he walked in through our front door. I remember threatening a kid a grade older than me that I would totally throw down if he ever said two words to my brother. I became the protector, even though that is what he, my big brother, was supposed to be for me.

I gave him guidance. I gave him reassurance. Though I was younger, I was wiser, though he has always been 10x smarter than I will ever be. I knew the tricks of the trade, and he could only read the guide lines. I would help show him how to act in public, how to pick up on social cues he didn't understand. I'm pretty sure my parents spent at least $1000 over the years buying self help and "How To Deal With My Child" books.

My brother was the "screw up", the name given to kids who "cant seem to do things right", even if they can't help it. I was the so called "golden child". My parents put extra pressure on me to be perfect, to accomplish all my goals and more to somehow make up for what my brother lacked. This gave me a superiority complex that I still struggle with. Growing up in that environment forced me to hate competition, and to be in a constant battle of attention. This put much strain on my brother and I's relationship, making him hate me for simply knowing right from wrong, and not making mistakes, when it seemed that is all he knew what to do.

I took the big sister role as a young child into my adolescent years, and now as an adult, I can totally say we are equals. My brother now is a fully functioning adult, going to school for Computer Science (I know, what a nerd), and has a part-time job that he loves. 5 years ago, if you asked me if I could even see my brother having a job, I would've said "are you nuts?". Now, it seems that he has grown out of his learning disabilities and has learned all of his social cues.

Being a big little sister is hard. You deserve to be babied, you deserve all the perks that come with it, but what you get is the duty and responsibility to look after your siblings. And sometimes, especially in my case, the sacrifice pays off and you get the most amazing rewards.