If you're a middle child, this article is for you. I am a middle child. I know the struggle. I feel your pain. Being the middle child comes with a few problems. To name a few:
1. Sometimes it feels like people forget that we even exist.
2. You had to learn how to do things on your own from a young age.
3. Your accomplishments, while they are celebrated, just don't seem as important as your siblings'.
4. You are often caught in the middle of your siblings disagreements.
5. There is literally a syndrome named after us: Middle Child Syndrome. There isn't any oldest/youngest child syndrome.
Let's take a more in-depth look.
Being a middle child, it's not hard to feel like we're invisible at times. We aren't the first born, and we aren't the baby. We're just there. In the middle. We're often overlooked, and at times it can feel like we aren't really there at all. Face it, you weren't the first to graduate high school or go to college, and you won't be the last. You weren't the first to do that amazing thing, and you won't be the last. It's easy to be overlooked. You get used to living in your siblings' shadows.
The fact that we had to learn how to be very independent very young isn't necessarily a problem, but when we were kids it probably seemed like it. For as long as I can remember, I have always tried to figure out how to do things on my own, with a very high success rate. Being the invisible child meant I had to learn to take care of myself and do things on my own. Now that I'm older, I'm glad I was an independent child, as I have developed strong problem solving skills as I enter into adulthood. So, like I said, while learning to be independent may have been a bit of a bummer when I was younger, I'm actually thankful for this middle child problem now.
Now on to our accomplishments. Let me start by saying, congratulations on all the wonderful things we've done in life. We're awesome. But evidently not quite as awesome as our siblings. Take this (personal) example. Me and my brothers were all in our high school's band program. We were all, at some point, a member of the Wind Ensemble (the 'best of the best' in terms of band classes). My older brother played a solo at one of our performances, and it happened to be one where the band was judged and graded. The video of the performance is on YouTube and is still talked about to this day. My younger brother, during his sophomore year, made the drum line (which is a big deal). Everyone was and is still so proud of him and his accomplishments. Two years after my oder brother's solo, the band was at the same performance to be judged. I played three solos and practiced my a** off for months to perfect them. While I was congratulated for doing a great job, I can't help but feel like it was less important than the other two's accomplishments.
As a middle child, it's not hard to get caught in the middle of disagreements between siblings. We are, quite literally, the middle man. Your younger sibling is looking up to you for support and guidance, and your older sibling is looking down at you, adding pressure to side with them. A majority of the time, we don't want anything to do with whatever they're arguing about, but we're forced to pick a side. No matter what you choose, you can't win. You either pick a side and have one of your siblings mad at you, or you don't pick a side and now they're ganging up on you.
Finally, there's just the pure fact that there is such a thing as Middle Child Syndrome. If you Google it, you get a bunch of articles like this one telling about all the struggles of being a middle child. Yet I've never heard of "Oldest Child Syndrome" or "Youngest Child Syndrome." It's just a bit ridiculous, and mostly because a lot of it is true.
Now, middle children of the world, I know it may sound like I've been complaining for this entire article, but I really am happy to be a middle child. I love my siblings and couldn't ask for them to be any better. Overall, I'm happy with my life and you should be too. Middle children are basically the glue that holds our families together, so hang in there, because at the end of the day, being the middle child is actually pretty great.
