A middle child is always the most stigmatized of all the members of an immediate family. For years, they have been the butt of jokes regarding being forgotten, passed over or worse, ignored.
When you’re a middle child, you’re born with diplomacy in your blood. How else would you survive the dominance of the alpha child and suffer the tantrums of the omega child?
You’re never the center of attention, and least pampered, so you grow up to be a thick-skinned fighter. In short, there is nothing that fazes you anymore because you’ve lived through this:
1. Being invisible
At any social gathering, your elder and younger sibling will always be the ones shining in the limelight, while you find yourself being ignored like you’re just another piece of the living room furniture. Sometimes the only way you’re going to find your own path as a middle child is to take the path that is totally unexpected. If your older and younger siblings excel in dance, try sports. If they play drums, you sing.
2. Being asked about your siblings
There’s no getting around this one. As a middle child, you will always be asked questions about your siblings. You will be treated as the sole information provider to family, friends, and even strangers about the well-being of your older and younger siblings.
3. Being left out
You’re never asked for your take on anything. You will always be considered too young by your elder sibling or too old to by the younger one. But you were always expected to respect your older sibling and love your younger one, even if they had both annoyed you to the point of distraction with their attention-seeking gimmicks.
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4. Being the hand-me-down person
Whether its clothes, toys, or food, you will always get the leftovers or slightly less, simply because, a middle child’s life is full of sacrifices. Your parents will say new clothes are expensive, but that answer will probably be a cop-out to going out shopping with you.
5. Being a punching bag
“What doesn’t kill you, makes you stronger” is basically a lie invented by siblings to experiment on you and with you. It doesn’t matter if they’re only a year or two older, you are still “younger” than them and can’t do what they do.
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6. Being the family bridge
Small talk, midnight conversations, we’ve got everything covered. From sorting differences to breaking the ice, your family knows whom to talk to. It’s kind of great the way you have all the power when you watch your siblings squabble like children. When one is being overdramatic or unfair, you get to hear some pretty juicy gossip about the other and vice-versa.
7. Being denied justice
Being bullied and being taken advantage of is what your daily schedule looks like. You know your woes will never be heard, so you never rant. Shouting, “Mooooom!!!!!!” somehow never works in your favor.
8. Being a secret-keeper
The middle child is also the snoop for mom and dad, with likely a reward involved for giving up the scoop about their siblings. They are great at detective work, in part because they know a lot of their siblings’ friends and schoolmates. Getting the dirt on their brothers and sisters is easier for a middle child because no one ever thinks they will rat their siblings out.
9. Being blamed for everything
Your sibling probably indulged in a little bit of mischief half-way across the world but somehow, the finger’s always pointing at you. also, you’ll always have a younger sibling that will be able to get away with everything you couldn’t because, by the time they roll through their experiences, your parents will be too damn tired to care.
But that’s okay because we know how to get ourselves out of trouble. You don’t need praise from your parents, because you know just how special you really are. Middles make people see their worth through their strengths. The only person you really need to like you anyway is you.
