Middle Child
We want to be accepted. We want to be respected. We want to be protected. We want to be selected. We don’t want to be rejected.
We want to be accepted. We want to be respected. We want to be protected. We want to be selected. We don’t want to be rejected.
This image is not the experience of all middle children, but for many it has been.
Every child has a different story, but many middle children go through similar experiences during their lifetimes. Some of us are fiercely independent. Some of us are bitter due to being ignored when the attention has disseminated to our other siblings. Some of us have always been less affected by parental influence. Some of us feel like the black sheep of our families. Some of us feel like we are excluded from familial issues, problems, and secrets.
As a middle child myself, I have experienced all of these feelings, but I wouldn’t have it any other way. Because I received less attention (in certain aspects), I learned how to be self sufficient, responsible, and independent. I established my own views of the world instead of immediately adopting the views of my parents.
Feelings of exclusion, are still feelings I experience to date, but I acknowledge these feelings and accept them; I don’t beat myself up. Instead, I love and nurture myself as a middle child.
For those of who us who choose to have 3 or more kids one day, or already have them; we have a responsibility to raise our children different. We have a responsibility to love and nurture our children in ways that will be catered to them individually, without over-catering to the needs of one child over the other.