The oldest is the favorite, the middle is forgotten amidst the trials and tribulations of the elder, and what about the youngest? Well, according to the mounds of pre-existing stigmas given to the youngest child, we belong to a breed of devious, smart-mouthed monsters who tend to be at the root of trouble (i.e. Stevie Griffin from "Family Guy," or Luke Dunphy from "Modern Family").
While I have had my fair share of troublesome situations rooted in my own thinking and doing, I like to consider myself forthright and fair despite what the T.V. shows may depict. It's likely many of the youngest children out there are nothing like the one's depicted in media, so what do we, the masterminds and the villains, consist of?
Most notably, we perfected the craft of knowing what to do in order to get what we want. We worked out the kinks that our older siblings had to face. They were, in essence, this guinea pigs of the family. That is, they tested the limits of what us children were allowed to do in a family setting.
By the time our time presented itself for us youngsters to take action, we knew what to say and how to say it. We always knew just the right way to ask to have a sleepover at a friend's house, while the older sister faced the firm "no" at the basis of her unperfected etiquette.
As we watched our older siblings go through life, whether with complications or perfections, we were constantly taking mental notes with thoughts along the line of "how can i do that, but better?"
We knew nothing of the experiences our siblings were facing head on, except that we were likely to do it with further success than them. In other words, we were, and still tend to be, highly competitive. If your brother or sister received a high grade on a test, you knew you could get an even higher grade to one-up them.
We were increasingly motivated to delve into our abilities to outdo anybody who came across our path at the sole fact that we have witnessed the scenarios we can improve on. We may be younger, but we are highly motivated to be better, and strive to beat out that older brother or sister to this very day.
The youngest child is a mix of the best qualities the siblings prior to our arrival had, yet we are completely contrasting. We have created our identities on the foundation of what our older siblings had done, and their reactions to this complex world we live in. Do not envy your older siblings that still impact the way you are. Your spot is right at the end of the family members who have completely different aspects.
There may have been times you wished you were somewhat transparent like the middle, or all the attention was on you like the oldest, but we found the perfect balance in between. There was always just enough attention to fill our selfish and craving mind, yet enough freedom to keep things interesting in order to be our destined devious selves.
Being the youngest means we were, and still are, the last child to all the things your other siblings have already done and conquered. We were the last to get our drivers license, the last to graduate high school, and the last to flap our wings as we were pushed from the nest. So go out, and do everything one last time with a bang. After all, they saved the best for last.
