Being the Youngest

Samantha Prom

It’s both a blessing and a curse to be the youngest out of your siblings. You get all the attention you want as a child, and get away free from trouble by blaming it on your older siblings. Bratty behavior can benefit you, but can also harm you, especially when everyone gets older.

I didn’t have a sense on how annoying I was until I turned 13. Imagine my siblings, dealing over 13 years with a brat-of-a-child like me. I can’t even handle my two-year-old niece at the moment, so how did they deal with me? I hear my sisters stories about me all the time, all things that I would’ve laughed at too if I were my own little sister. However, there are bad things about being the youngest, and it isn’t only annoyance.

As a young one, being alone was never an option. I’ve always had someone next to me, either my mom or my sisters who’d always accompany me. My oldest sister moving out wasn’t so shocking to me since we rarely saw each other anyways, therefore I minded my own business because I still have my other sister who could keep me company. Finding out a few years later that she was moving to a whole other state left me upset. She was the only one I had left, and she was going to leave? My attachment issues were NOT going to handle this one.

Being alone was one problem, but the other problem was when I had no one to rely on at my darkest times. My oldest sister was off into her own world, doing adult things while my other sister was in a different state. When I was discovering myself, I couldn’t talk to anyone in person or receive a hug like I always had before. Handling things alone was a struggle, finding myself in place of the world was a bigger struggle. And of course, what added more struggle into my hands were the success of my sisters. I feel pressured as the youngest to be as successful or better yet, more successful, than what they were. Which yet, was another reason why I needed a shoulder to lean on, but was never there.

I learned a lot of things being the youngest. That one, I can’t get whatever I want, however I want– and two, that I shouldn’t take my sisters for granted. Though they both heavily made fun of me (and still do), I realized I can’t stay separated from them. They’ve both done a lot for me despite hating me at the same time for being an annoying prick for 13 years, that’s why I appreciate them a lot more than I have before. Perhaps that’s the beauty of being the youngest, to finally learn that their “hatred” towards you was all along just love.