I swear, being a middle child really stinks because you always get lost in the shuffle. Your oldest sister or brother are the first to do everything, like get their license. Then when your youngest sibling gets their license it’s also a big deal because they are the last to do everything, so then your parents get all emotional. Except when you got your license, naturally no one even batted an eye, it was just a very nonchalant milestone in your life.

Of course, your parents don’t mean to forget about you because they love you all the same (or so they say) but you can’t help but be bitter about it from time to time. I mean, hey it’s the middle child syndrome so you can’t blame it solely on your parents, it’s just how the universe works. Us middle children have no choice but to survive without any ounce of recognition but whatever we wouldn’t want to be the first born or the last born anyways because there are many upsides about being the middle child.

1. We have thick skin:

This goes without saying. Us middle children have to have thick skin because it is the only way to survive without getting depressed about not being recognized to the extent our oldest and youngest sibling are.

2. We understand the struggles of being an older sister and a younger sister at the same time:

We aren’t the youngest and we aren’t the oldest. So, we get to experience both sides of the spectrum, especially in an argument where we can understand both sides. Like when you were younger and you just wanted so badly to hangout with your older sibling and his/her friends but they wouldn’t let you and it made you so sad. But then your younger sibling wants to hangout with you and your friends and you don’t want them too because you all want to do older kid things like talk about the latest gossip on the playground but you can’t since your little sister/brother is there. Then again, you remember when you wanted to hangout with your older sibling so you are stuck in constant battle between understanding both sides.

3. You have to live up to the expectations of your older sibling:

Perhaps this is not solely a middle school predicament but it is generally a younger sibling one. Whatever your older sibling does you feel compelled...no...obligated to do what they did and more. So when your oldest sibling was a star at sports, you had to be just as good and then some. If you don’t live up to the name your oldest sibling had then you just feel like a downright disappointment to your parents.

4. You are a walking, breathing contradiction:

You try so hard to be nothing like your older sibling but at the same time be like them but better. You are extremely personable and can get along with anyone but because of this you don’t have a distinct group...but you do at the same time. See what I mean??

5. You are funny:

Being the middle child, you have to be funny because it is your defense mechanism for everything. Its part of how you survive being the middle child because there are countless times where you are going to feel neglected or under-appreciated and being funny helps you cope with that. I mean you don’t mind because now you are the funny sibling.

6. You don’t have to figure anything out for yourself:

This will be the one and only time we thank our older siblings in this article because we don’t have to figure anything out, our older sibling have already done that for us. WOOO! While of course we do discover things on our own, for things like which teachers/courses to take, which field trips to sign up for, which clothes to wear and what college is like, our siblings already discovered that out for us so a big THANK YOU for that.

7. We are the negotiators of the family:

You may be getting blamed for something you have not even done so you and naturally negotiate your punishment with your parents. Such as not doing the dishes the moment you came home. “Well Dad, I was WORKING all day long and Lauren was sitting on the couch all day long, so who really should be the one getting yelled at...the one making money...or the one watching 'Keeping Up With the Kardashians' on repeat?”

8. You get to be close with your older siblings and younger siblings:

You kind of get to be close with all of the siblings because you are the middle man between the age difference between the oldest and the youngest. Granted, most of the time all siblings are close to each other but you are more relatable to the older sibling than the younger one is and vice versa.

9. You always identify with the Underdog:

Since you are forgotten about here and there, you always feel like you need to prove yourself. It's not that you parents doubt your abilities it’s just you just need to fight that much more for attention and in order to do that you must achieve things noteworthy of attention. You simply tend to prove people wrong, but it is an amazing quality to have.

See, being the middle child does not have to be all bad. Personally, I think being the middle child is the best because we have to prove ourselves constantly. Many times we are the underdog and we obtain qualities or characteristics that our older and younger siblings may not have. We are hardworking, empathizers, leaders, funny and tenacious because we had to be growing up as the forgotten one. But please please please don’t pity us because if it wasn’t for us being the middle children, we wouldn’t be who we are today. And trust us, we LOVE being the middle child, even though we may say it is the worst sometimes.