At times, being the oldest was kind of awesome, but then again, it was also one of the most frustrating experiences out there. When the baby first comes along, being a big brother or sister is so exciting! Then all too soon, that cute little baby sibling is not so cute anymore. We oldest siblings learn from our younger siblings and love them anyway (most of the time).
One thing being the oldest sibling comes with is the role of "test child." This means Mom and Dad have to figure out what on earth they're doing as parents. They (hopefully) learned more about parenting with us the first time around. Looking back on it, it's just nice to know that Mom and Dad know what they're doing at this point.Youngsters, start thanking us any time now.
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It's like Mom always said, "s/he's younger than you and doesn't understand." That phrase became haunting. It's hard to get in trouble for something you know but your younger siblings don't. Fortunately, it only lasted so long. Soon after that phase Mom gained a new favorite line: "Stop antagonizing your little brother/sister!" It seemed to go from misunderstanding to the oldest's fault just like that. It was continually frustrating yet necessary to come to the realization that we were indeed supposed to know better like Dad always said.
It came to a point when we firmly believed we always took blame. We got in trouble on behalf of the younger siblings much more than seemed fair. Why?... Because "we have more responsibility." This is true to a certain extent, but at times it felt like we were cheated as the oldest. Why did we always have to empty the dishwasher and vacuum the living room? Because we are more responsible. One thing we learned from this is that responsibility we thought Mom and Dad gave us, was truly earned in the end. We had the responsibility because they trusted us and knew we would learn from it in the end.
The first time you're in charge as the oldest is like a dream come true--until Mom and Dad leave. Then suddenly all hell breaks loose. Suddenly being in charge is equivalent to "bossy," "boring," and a million other negatives. Fits are thrown, tears are shed, and hairs are pulled out. But just as if it were magic, everything goes back to normal the second Mom and Dad walk in the door.
The first time we saw a PG-13 movie was when we were thirteen years old. Why do the younger siblings get to do everything at a much younger age? Obviously the younger siblings got a cell phone when they were younger than we were. This was a humbling lesson of the good old saying of "life's not fair."
The "test child" role continued as we grew older because we also had to go through puberty, high school, standardized tests, and college applications first. This is when we say, "you're welcome." The youngest siblings are so lucky they don't have to figure that all out on their own. How could they when we hardly know how we survived all that?
As the oldest, it also was surprising to find that the younger siblings actually looked up to us whether we realized it at the time or not. We've got their back no matter what. This taught us to be a good role model and act in a way that others would find admirable.
We soon realized that our little siblings aren't so "little" anymore. When our younger siblings are suddenly growing taller than us or starting high school or driving, it hit us that they aren't the six-year-olds we saw them as for so long. When did it all happen? They started turning into young adults in the blink of an eye, but what's more surprising is that we could not be more proud of the people they have become.
