Here are 15 things that only a middle child would know.
1. We are open-minded and we see the world through different perspectives
As children we saw the world through both of our sibling’s eyes as well as our own, which taught us to be open-minded and empathetic.
2. We are responsible
The oldest child makes the first mistakes and the middle child watches it happen. This taught us that actions have consequences, and that it is important to be responsible.
3. We were occasionally ignored
The middle child is often used to not being noticed, as they were overshadowed by their siblings. This means we don’t care much about being in the spotlight, and we enjoy focusing on other people’s achievements.
4. We are happy to go with the flow
Our siblings were always fighting over what game we should play, and as the middle child we were expected to make a decision, even though if we weren’t interested in playing. These tensions taught us to be relaxed and to go with the flow, shaping us as people.
5. We embrace our personalities
Rather than wanting to fit in, we wanted to stand out – just like our other siblings. Our siblings taught us that standing out makes you more noticeable, so we embraced all of our quirks and interesting personality traits.
6. We are fair and reasonable
We saw our oldest sibling being punished for small things like missing a curfew, and we saw our youngest sibling get away with nearly everything. This gave us a strong sense of justice, and often the middle child is the most fair and reasonable sibling.
7. We didn’t always get praised
We always had an older sibling who set the bar high, and our younger siblings were praised for virtually anything. The middle child had to earn praise with strengths and skills, teaching us the benefits of hard work.
8. We have interesting personalities
The middle child has to work to get their parent’s attention – and the easiest way to do this is to have a great personality. We always had interesting facts and funny stories to tell, and as adults we are great socializers.
9. We felt both younger and older as children
One day we were hanging in the park with our cool older sibling, and the next day we were brushing Barbie’s hair with the youngest sibling.
10. We are good negotiators
The middle child isn’t the baby of the family or the mature child, so we couldn’t rely on our cuteness or matureness to get things. Instead we became expert negotiators. Now we are great at arguing, but we also know when to be patient and when to back down.
11. We know how to fight for what we want
Nothing was handed to the middle child easily. We fought and argued to have our turn with the TV remote, and we grew up to be strong adults who know how to fight for what we want.
12. We can stand up for ourselves
The middle child is used to being between sibling fights, and often our siblings tried to force us to take a side. This taught us to stay out of the drama while standing up for ourselves.
13. We are diplomatic
Whenever the other siblings fought, the middle child was always there to help resolve the situation. Now we are great at peace-making – and we have our siblings to thank for it.
14. We know how to share
Whenever the middle child got a new toy, there was always another sibling clamouring to play with it. We became used to hand-me-downs, and we learned to love sharing – the most important things aren’t material, anyway.
15. We know a lot about pop culture
We watched cool PG films with our older sibling and Disney films with our youngest sibling, so now we know pretty much everything about that era of pop culture.
