Being the older sibling is both a blessing and a nightmare. For example, you're no longer alone and you have someone younger and easier to put the blame on too. Unfortunately, it also means you know the bliss of being an only child as well. Sometimes, you even look back on those days with a fond and yearning smile but just remember - bear through it all - life would be less colorful without your younger sibling(s) - (you may interpret that last part with whatever kind of connotation you feel befitting of it). Anyway, with age comes responsibility, and sometimes a little brat that keeps trying to get you in trouble, right?

Unfortunately for you, for us, that answer is a, "Right, yes," or maybe even a,"Oh yeah, please help me." But do not despair! There is always some sunshine to the rain, and you may just need to be reminded of it.

Being the older sibling, means you have someone smaller and younger to put the blame on. While the popular preconception is that the younger ones always get the bigger ones in trouble, it can actually sometimes go the other way around. Little Sally was the one who broke the remote, not you - you're too smart to play around with such a thing anyway, right?

Besides that, being older also means you get to set the bar as high as you want. Of course, if you've been an only child for a while, that might mean that you might not have even known that you would ever become a standard your other future siblings should aspire to be, but hey - at least you won't have any expectations set by others to live up to like them. Other than that, you also get more responsibility compared to your other siblings, and while that can be a double-edged sword in itself - the advantages of having more authority and control usually outweigh the disadvantages in the end.

And did I mention that you have more authority as the older sibling? Yes, I did - and that also means you get to be more bossy with your siblings. You get to pass on your chores on to them and have them cater to your whims because 1) you're older - they "have" to listen to you, and 2) you have more "important" things to take care of rather than take the trash out; your college applications take precedence over trivial chores.

So the lesson at the end of the day is that being older does not mean having more burdens to carry on. Sure, at times your siblings may seem exactly like that - burdens, but all in all, being older means having things better. You have more power over the others, you get to claim things first, you on't have to get hand-me downs, etcetera; the list goes on!

So keep your head help up high, older sister/brother, and keep your patience up while you're at it too!