If you are not the youngest of your family, buckle up, because I am about to address the good, the bad and the ugly of being the youngest sibling of the family, and make you feel bad for torturing your youngest sibling. I have a 12-year age gap between my brother, and then 10-year age gap between my sister. It is safe to say I was the unplanned "uh-oh" of the family. I like to tell myself my brother and sister just were not good enough so my parents tried to give it one more go around to get the perfect child. Okay, totally kidding; I am not that perfect. Not many people see the pure torture and agony that goes into being the baby of the family.
For starters, the youngest has to follow in the footsteps of the older siblings.
It may sound like a walk in the park, but its actually quite the opposite. I often hear, "You're the most expensive. Your sister didn't do that. Your brother and sister didn't get to eat this when they were your age. Your siblings never had cavities." Always being compared to them is, most certainly, not the way I want to live my life. Growing up, I always felt like I had to do better then them. Granted, I couldn't do everything they did, but what I could do, I made sure to shine!
One of the many things I loved about being the youngest is that I usually got off the hook!
Finally, after all of these years I can admit that I framed my sister and brother for many random things throughout my years. I distinctly remember one time I carved my sisters name into our living room table. I am not sure exactly what I was thinking, but it was fun! There were many other instances when I would accidentally break something, and then run away to let Mom discover it. When she would finally discover it I would lie, say I had no clue what it was, and that it must have been my sister or brother. Sorry guys, but that's what you get for always picking on me.
I am not sure if there is just an unwritten rule that the youngest has to do the dishes, but I hated it.
It never failed. Every time we would have family dinner, I would always get stuck doing all off the dishes. Still to this day -- I am 21 years old -- and I am still expected to do the dishes. I want to know where in the sibling rules this is stated because it is just cruel. That's a lot of dishes for one to wash in a life time. Now, its more of a habit than a chore, but a break at some of the future gatherings would be great!
Another pro of being the youngest sibling is that I have two built in best friends.
My brother and sister have both expressed to me, multiple times, that I can come to them for anything. I know for a fact that they would be the first ones I would call in case of an emergency, or if for some strange reason I do end up engaged. I loved having a big brother because he would always threaten to hurt any boys who "break my heart." Although I know there was nothing he could do about guys being grade-A assholes, it was always refreshing just to know that I had my big brother's unconditional love. Having a big sister is always a positive, too. I always have someone to go to when I want to gossip. She also happens to be the best shopping partner ever. We always end up shopping when we are together, and I would not trade it for a thing!
As much of a best friend they are to me, they also know how to push my buttons.
I am not sure if before I was born they made a pact to make my life miserable growing up, but they sure did do a great job. From holding me down and faking writing loser on my forehead, to giving me the worst wedgies I hope to ever receive. While I know they were doing it for fun, it was fun for all, but me! This is me promising all of the other babies of the family that I will never allow my kids to do this to each other, and I hope you all can promise me the same thing!
At the end of the day, I love my siblings with my whole heart. I want to thank them for torturing me growing up because I firmly believe I would not be the person I am today if it weren't for that. I have a thicker skin, my sense of sarcasm is on point, and I can bond with all the other babies of the family out there in the world.
