Older children are known for being leaders solving problems, and middle children are known for their loyalty and negotiation skills. Unfortunately, younger children are often considered rebellious, attention-seeking, or childish - this couldn’t be further from the truth. If you pay attention, you’ll notice that they are a lot more than what they’re assumed to be. Oldest children, listen up; here are a few things you can learn from your younger siblings.
1. They know how to fight for what they want, and they know how to win.
The stereotype of the youngest child is that they always get what they want, which is often true. But what you don’t notice is that it isn’t simply handed to them; they’ve learned how to advocate for their own interests so well that they make it look effortless. Spending so much time watching their older siblings grow up and argue with mom and dad means they’ve picked up exactly how to talk to them and get the perfect end result. Unfortunately, it takes us older siblings a lot longer to figure that out.
2. They love unconditionally.
It’s true that they often get the brunt of the sass from their older siblings, and it’s always hard when you’re always seen as ‘the baby.’ But they still love us, despite everything. Even if we just snapped at them for annoying us, or ignored them when we shouldn’t have. They bounce right back, and are rarely ever bitter about it. Which is amazing, considering they’ve been doing it for their entire life.
3. Despite being the youngest, they'll always jump to protect you.
I remember very clearly an instance where, when she was only about six years old, my littlest sister ran to chase a bee away because it scared me and the middle sister. We have a family history of being extremely allergic to bee stings, but no one could stop her from trying to protect us. And that has been a consistent pattern as we’ve all grown up. Youngest siblings don’t care if they’re the smallest or least intimidating; they’ll go to bat for you.
4. They will listen to you for hours, even if they really don't want to.
No, they don’t want to hear about the minute details of your day for an entire hour, and they really don’t want to hear a lecture about life and how they should live it because ‘you’re the oldest and you’ve learned better.’ But that doesn’t stop you from talking their ear off and totally neglecting to ask about their day, and it doesn’t stop them from letting you drone on and on. They care too much about you to hurt your feelings, and they don’t want to upset you by telling you they feel overlooked.
5. They literally cannot imagine life without you, and they wouldn’t want to.
Even when you butt heads and bicker, they wouldn’t want to have it any other way. There hasn’t ever been a time when you haven’t been a part of their world, and they love that. Having siblings isn’t a choice any of us get to make, but it’s a gift we’re given. As kids, we used to get so angry that sometimes we may have wished we didn’t have younger siblings, but now that we’ve grown up we realize that the universe has given us best friends that we’ll have for the rest of our lives. The youngest child has always thought of us that way. Don’t take them for granted; appreciate them, love them, talk to them. They’ve done it their entire lives for us, it’s time to return the favor.
