Dear World,
Whenever people hear that I’m the middle child, I’m met with sympathetic looks and comments like, “Ooh, that’s rough!” I am here now to clear the air of the negative stigma that all of us middle children face. Being a middle child is actually kind of the best thing you could be, in my opinion. Now I know I sound crazy; how can being in between the baby and the first born be a good thing? Well, in a way, we middle children get the best of both worlds.
When you’re in the middle, others may think we get brushed off or get the short end of the stick, but it’s really quite the opposite. We get to be the older sibling and the younger sibling, at the same time! As the older siblings to those younger than us, we become a sibling that’s older than them but still close enough to their age that they can play with us, connect with us, and look up to us when they need to. We get to be the older sibling they might be a little closer with, because of our ambiguity on the older/younger front. We can still relate to them, but provide a more mature partner in crime when it comes to wreaking havoc on the real older sibling. We’re like a slightly older best friend, who has just gone through everything they're going through and understands what it’s like to have someone older. I get to teach them the ropes that were taught to me by the oldest siblings who may have already flown the nest by now, but I still get to goof off when I want to.
That being said, we’re still the younger sibling to those older than us. We were once the babies of the family, just like they were before we came along. They were our earliest role models, the glamorous sibling who seemed so much older, even when they were only fourteen. They were our first playmates, they put up with endless Barbie games--even when you’re being a little bit bossy, and they occasionally let us into their rooms, which was basically the most exciting thing ever.
As we grew up, they did too, and now we become their slightly younger confidante. They’re the best friend we’ve had since birth, and nothing can break the bond between an older sibling and their younger sibling. We can talk to them about the youngest sibling, and about things that we know they’ve gone through, too. Once we became the middle child, we were pushed closer to them as “one of the older siblings,” and suddenly, we were part of the elite group.
As a middle child, I can confidently say that I’ve never wished I wasn’t. Getting to be both the older sibling and the younger sibling makes us closer to everyone in the family. We’re everybody’s confidante, even our parents', and we can relate differently to all of them. To be honest, I love how close I am with all of my siblings, and I wouldn’t trade my spot in the family lineup for anything.
Sincerely,
A very lucky middle child
