Dear Older Sibling,
There are few things in life that you can confidently say are the best for you and that you wouldn’t change for the world. For me, that’s being the younger sibling. I’ve heard you, as well as many other older siblings, try to say why being the oldest is best, but I can think of multiple reasons why you are wrong. And I would love to point them out to you.
First, I never get in trouble. You break your midnight curfew and get grounded for a week. I break my 12:30 curfew and get a stern talking to. Mom and dad question the group of friends you hangout with on weekends. But all my friends are angels. You claim this is because mom and dad “didn’t care as much the second time around” but that couldn’t be farther from the truth. I didn’t get in trouble because I watched you. I used you as my own personal teacher. I watched what you did and what you got in trouble for so I knew what not to do. I either used your mistakes to grow, or I just learned how to be sneakier about it. Either way I took your mistake as a chance to learn and therefore I was able to get away with a lot more devious activity.
But I didn’t just learn how to get away with things at home. I learned how to handle mistakes at school. I remember the nights you would stay up worried about grades in high school. You would let the thought of not succeeding overwhelm you, and in the end, you always did well. But the image of the tears stuck in your eyes on those nights stayed in my memory. And I vowed that I would never let myself get that upset over something so little. So I learned to not stress out over grades. I learned to do my best and that was all I could do. Your stress taught me that grades are important so I always worked as hard as I could. And just like you, I always did well.
Not saying school was all fun and games because going into high school, I had the automatic standards set for me. Your reputation melted onto me and teachers thought we were one in the same. You loved math and I loved science. You quietly paid attention and I sat back chatting with whoever would listen. As much as I enjoy my individuality, not to mention how different we actually are, having you set the bar for my teachers’ expectations was the best thing that could happen for me. My teachers expected me to be smart and respectful. And in turn, I acted smart and respectful. This forced me to push myself because I knew that if you could do it, then I could do it. And as a few years passed, my teachers commented on how similar we were. Which I realize now is an incredible compliment.
This pattern stretched far from school and to every aspect of my life. With every sports jersey I put on or club I joined, I was greeted with warm hellos and the expectation that we would be the same person. As annoying as this originally was, I secretly grew to like it. I enjoyed it because you were the older one and ever since we were in grade school we knew that older people were automatically cooler.
But the number one reason why being the youngest is best is because I get to have you as a role model and you’re my number one fan. Every situation that life throws at me I know I can handle. I can look at how you would handle it, or what you would tell me to do and I know that I will not be led astray. Every large milestone in life, you have already conquered. Graduating high school and college seems like an easy accomplishment now, due to your influence and you cheering me along at every obstacle. And each time I stumble you will always be there to pick me up, usually with a laugh or two followed by a solid piece of advice.
So I’m sorry to say, that I clearly come out on top. And I will always be rooting for your mistakes so I can learn with you. For all of this I would like to say thank you. Thank you for all the laughs, all the tears, and letting me be the youngest.
Sincerely,
The younger (and better) sibling
