A lot of people believe that your personality is shaped around the order you and or siblings are born. The oldest is bossy and independent, who passes down their wisdom to the younger ones not yet able to experience the amount of things the oldest has. Or the middle child, yours truly, is often called "middle child syndrome".Which means that since the responsibilities are all on the older sibling, and the new attention is on the baby, middle children can feel a left out, or use it to their advantage. Becoming laid back and content by their own company. The baby, the pride and joy, always an innocent 6 year old in the parents eyes.

After 20 years of being a middle child, I've weighed out the pro's and con's:

You get left alone. Maybe your parent's are spending their time teaching your older sister to drive, or taking a million photos of your little sister's first day of 1st grade. There you are, not really hitting any major milestones. Depending on your age, it can be really frustrating when you're asking for help on you math homework and your parents are preoccupied with diapers or prom pictures. However, it can also teach you a really great sense of independence.

You've got options! Whenever being 11 got boring, I could always just hang around my sister to get a taste of the fancy life of a 13 year old. When I felt like dialing it back three years, I had my younger sister. We did a lot of things together, but when our ages hit certain points, our interests began to change, and I took advantage of it by playing the best of both worlds. When I got tired of both of them, I could spend time alone. I learned how to keep myself entertained already, when being the beloved baby or the prized oldest child took over the show.

I could learn and play. My older sister was out and about, living life and being told by my parents what to look out for. Whether she listened or not, she learned something, and she always had told tell me the story too. From this, I learned through her experiences, carefully deciding the next steps of mine through the consequences of hers. All of which I could have ignored until it was just my turn, and continued scribbling in my notebooks and watching cartoons, not concerned about what'll happen if you don't come back by curfew. However, I sometimes got to mimic this "wise older sister" gig on my younger sister, but to a lesser extent. Maybe just teaching her how to steal a few cookies before dinner--the right way.

Middle child syndrome? It may sound bleak, and lonely, but I think i've played the game pretty well.