Us Middle Children

Us Middle Children are often different.... We are often called the sandwich... stuck in between two siblings.

Most parents will say that their middle child is a little special, has very strong opinions and often is the problem child of the family. Well I discovered many many years ago that there is a reason why, us, the special children of the family, are so special...

The answer why we are so problematic is because we never know where we stand. I remember that as a child when I was hanging out with my older brother I was considered like a small child, I had to listen to what he was telling me and I had to follow, I was a FOLLOWER. But then when I was with my little sister I was considered as an older child having responsibilities, having to take care of her and suddenly I was a LEADER.

Now tell me that's not f***ed up... Tell me how, when treated differently from one second to another, us middle children can grow up being let's say 'NORMAL'... Going from leader to follower back to leader back to follower and this for years and years makes us not know where to stand anymore. Often we have to use a lot of creativity to stand out and we are, let's say it, very very very opinionated. We are often in competition (in our minds) with the older and the youngest child who each have an easier place to stand in. Not that their lives are easier!

Yes most of us, middle children, are different because from a very young age we had a different way of seeing things. Did we get a choice, No. Did our parents make this mistake on purpose, No. Do we have to live with this for the rest of our lives, Yes.... Do we end up knowing where we stand, honestly I don't know.

All I know is that us, Middle Children, are special, and often when I meet another middle child we understand each other where nobody else understands us.

So Parents... please if you have a middle child don't be so hard on him, he is just trying to stand out. He is just trying to be and make a place for himself.

Us Middle Children will always be different, it probably makes us stronger, it probably prepares us better for our adults life. But I believe that somehow, somewhere we are always scared by this difference and sometimes all we want is just to 'FIT IN'.