Being the oldest child in a family with six children is truly incredible. I had the pleasure of experiencing life with many followers and built in friends. I always had someone to play with, laugh with, and blame when I did something wrong. If any of you have younger siblings you will understand these seven things that all older siblings do/experience/love.

1. Matching outfits were the worst.

Looking back on old family photos the matching old navy flag shirts were cute. The christmas outfits that were identical were actually adorable, but at the time it was dreadful. I loathed the fact that my younger siblings were dressed just like me. I was young and wanted to be own my person, not have an army of red old navy flag shirts behind me. And now that I am older I appreciate the matching and will match my future family ALL the time.

2. “It wasn’t me”

My favorite go-to phrase. Whenever mom and dad found out that we had broken the rules or broken something in the house, it was not my fault. I’m the oldest, I know better than to break something or break the rules. Come on mom, we both know who the real culprit is...

3. The Blame Game

In relation to the above, the blame game always came after the “it wasn’t me”. And I am sorry to my younger siblings that got the heat many many times for things that I had actually done, but I didn’t want to get in trouble and you were littler than me so the punishment was going to be much easier on you than me. Sorry?

4. Being the Protector

I loved this role. Whenever my younger siblings were scared of anything they would come to me for protection and help against “the bad thing”. Whether that be the dark, a nightmare, a ladybug, a spider, the wrath of mom and dad, kisses from relatives, etc. They would come to me for help. I’m not going to lie, most of the time I was the cause of the fear. My sister is terrified of ghosts only because I pushed the idea onto her as a child, but she comes to me when she has another experience with one. The same with ladybugs. I don’t actually know if the orange ones are poisonous if you squash them, I have no idea why some of them are orange. I like ladybugs and didn’t want you killing them. Sorry, but it’s too late now to change your mind about them, but I will gladly remove the orange ladybug from the windowsill because I love you and don’t want its poisonous venom to harm you.

5. Sitting at the “Big Kids” table at holidays.

This was such a big deal to me. I could not wait until I was allowed to sit at the big kids table. It took years for me to sit at the big kids table, but when it happened you better believe that I rubbed my new seat in their little faces still trapped at the kids table. Ha ha.

6. Setting a good example.

It is my job as the oldest to set the best example for my younger siblings. And those of you who are the oldest know just how hard this is. Always having to behave and be the mature one, being the bigger person and letting things go, it's hard. Especially since I want to be immature about some things, and act like a child in some cases. I don’t want to always be the bigger person, and sometimes I haven’t been but then I’m teaching them wrong. It’s like the blind leading the blind.

7. Being the teacher.

Being the teacher is just a nice way of saying the boss. I’ll admit it, I’m bossy, I like to be in charge, but that doesn't mean that I’m not teaching at the same time. I think I have done a hell of a job teaching my younger siblings the best way to make chocolate milk, ramen in the microwave, pepperoni cheese and ranch sandwiches, pop tarts with peanut butter, the most effective way to fold your clothes, pack a suitcase, and many others. I have prepared them for the real world quite nicely.