Don't get me wrong, being the oldest has its perks, such as getting no attention from your parents so less "hovering," and you know how to play the game of lowering their expectations about you so that every little victory is incredible to them. You have perfected it, but there are way too many reasons as to why being the firstborn is super s**tty.
Since you're the first kid, your parents literally have no idea what to do with you.
They are newbies and are so confused as to what you are and how you work. You're like their lab rat, to be totally honest, so expect a lot of "first times." They are experimenting so many different methods to raise you the "right" way but instead, you grow up with a fat load of trauma *sips tea.*
On top of that, you are now dubbed as a role model for the rest of your siblings, which you end up raising. Because they are basically your children, you have to be more cautious about what you do, and also to try and guide your parents in a better direction to raise them with little to no trauma for numbers 1 and 2 and so on. Even though your annoying siblings get on your nerves, you have a parental instinct to protect them and hope that they become better versions of you.
UGH, responsibilities.
Wanting to grow up fast is the worst wish you could have possibly wished for. You regret wanting to sit at the adult table because frankly, that's where all the family drama is that has you shook and you end up finding out way too much and have to rethink your entire life. There's also the awful times where your parents want to complain about the other and they go to YOU because let's be real, they don't actually have friends. So now you know way too much about your parents and try to not resent them for putting such heavy opinions on you at such a young age, all the while trying to keep all of this away from your siblings.
Speaking of siblings, the reason they are cool is because of you. You have literally taught them everything you can so they can flex so hard in their little 5th-grade class by reciting Michael Scott quotes and J. Cole lyrics. You literally formed the pathway for their success. And now after this realization, you feel a bit envious because you wish you had someone like yourself to guide you and hold your hand throughout life, but like your parents when they had you, you had no idea what to do.
Being the oldest means you get the worst of the worst, from ways of being disciplined, to curfews, to how strict your parents are in general. It really sucks watching your siblings grow up with not nearly the amount of harsh rules your parents put on you when you were your siblings' age, and it really pushes your buttons. You also get fed up with how sensitive your siblings are when they literally had to go through nothing, so you just roll your eyes and keep everything bottled up so that your siblings can thrive.
Being the oldest sibling means having a thick skin, your little siblings have no idea how much it sucks for us.