Being the youngest in your family

Are you the oldest sibling in your family? Are you the youngest? Or the middle? Have you ever wanted to switch places with someone in your family that is in a different position than you? When I was little, I would always find myself angry or jealous of my older siblings. There are both positive and negative points in being the youngest of the family, although I feel that the positives outweigh the negatives. First, I always found myself at home with my parents, although I wanted to be doing something else. Second, I get to spend more time with my parents than any one of my other siblings did. Third, I am often “spoiled” because I am the youngest. I always thought that my siblings were always luckier than I was.

My first reason was that I always ended up at home with my parents. I always thought of this as a negative thing. I wanted to be with my friends on weekends, but I never really got to. From my parents perspective, I was too young to be out with my friends on weekends. They always made me stay home, and play games with them, or watch a movie or do something else that I thought was “lame”. I never really understood why they made me stay home with them. I always thought they were trying to ruin my life. If I ever did get to be with my friends, they made me come home early. Although I thought that spending time with my parents was a negative thing, I now have a different outlook on that situation.

Second, I actually do get to spend more time with my parents than my older siblings ever did. I know they lived with them for the same amount of time, but they had other siblings they had to “share” my parents with. Since my older siblings are all grown and living away, I am the only sibling left at home. I do not have to “share” my parents with any body else, which has allowed us to bond more, and grow closer together than my parents did when my other siblings were still living at home. Spending time with my parents was a good thing, but being the youngest has an other positive point.

Third, I am often “spoiled” by my parents. My parents pay for more of my clothes, shoes, and other “wants” that they didn’t ever really pay for the other kids things. Also, their expectations have changed as we both get older. They are more laid back with the rules that were always enforced with my siblings, and myself when I was younger. My parents now let me stay out with friends later than they would ever let my older siblings stay out with their friends when they were my age.

In conclusion, being the youngest in your family can have both positive and negative points, although I feel that the “goods” outweigh the “downs”. When I was younger I thought that my parents were trying to make me miserable, when in reality they knew what was better for me than I did for myself. I now have a different perspective on these events, and am glad that they enforced rules when I was younger.