The middle child is often left as the outcast in the family. Even though you are wedged in between the middle of two other children you often feel neglected. Now, don't get me wrong, I think my parents did a pretty good job with me, but there were obvious perks to being the youngest or the oldest. Let's face it, the saying from many of our childhoods is very accurate. "First is the worst, second is the best, and third is the one with the treasure chest."
Now, first is the worst simply because they normally set the standard, which really stinks for all the other children who follow this golden or rotten first child. In my case, or my family's case, the first child was showed a lot of love and hate. The love fell in the classroom. Teachers loved my older brother because he was insanely smart. He especially whizzed through math problems like it was no one else's business, so when I had some of his previous teachers, I was pretty much screwed over. The teachers just assumed that I would be a replica of the first born, which is pretty much the exact opposite of what I turned out to be. It has never been said that I am stupid, but I have gotten the, "Why aren't you as smart as your brother?" speech, which is exactly what no student wants to hear, ever.
On the other hand, the third has the treasure chest because it seems like he has mommy and daddy's wallets wrapped around them. Things that the older two siblings didn't have, the youngest had, and for that, I am extremely bitter. I think the treasure chest idea goes to the "baby" of each family. The "baby" of the family is normally loved in public, but once you get them behind closed doors, it feels like Hell is breaking loose. However, the third child can make you look like the evil or misbehaved child in public because you get wrapped up in their tricks. Just because they are the youngest does not mean they don't know what they are doing.
The middle child is often wrapped up in all of it, which at the end of the day makes it harder to become an individual, and the only way to morph into an independent and unique middle child is to take space away from your siblings. Even though I absolutely hated living in my brothers' shadows, I was always happy to have someone to get my back or cover my tracks when needed. My older brother used to be so protective of me that he would talk for me in public because I was so painfully shy, but the four things I know about the middle child are:
1. They hate being compared.
2. They will do about anything to gain some independence from their siblings.
3. They will always, deep down, feel like they missed out on something that their others siblings had.
4. They love their siblings so much, even though it is extremely hard to get along sometimes.
