I’m the youngest of three daughters, being six years younger than the sister closest in age to me, and eight years younger then my oldest sister.

Growing up, there were a total of five children living in my house, two of them who weren’t my siblings, and eight people total. I was always the youngest by far; always the third wheel, and always the one who couldn’t sit in the front seat of the car, couldn’t see PG-13 movies, and couldn’t have sleepovers yet.

The results of this huge age difference led to many obnoxious, tattle-tale-esque acts, such as recording in my “spy” journal the occurrence of a sister scandalously holding the hand of a boy and then exhibiting said entry to my mother. While my shock was, according to my mother, unwarranted, my sister’s annoyance ensued. The consequences themselves were unfortunate, but normally, due to parental authority, they never went further from disgusted looks from across the dinner table, being called a brat, or the occasional pinching.

Besides the character flaw of being annoying, the position of the youngest sibling was definitely ultimate. First of all, I always got the benefit of the doubt. Even if my parents knew I was the cause of whatever argument, my sisters were always “old enough to know better” and therefore were punished or criticized further than I.

Secondly, any slip-ups my older sisters made that were characteristic of their age gave my parents more experience with such situations many years before I was to make them. They were less shocked, then, when it came my turn to make such mistakes, and certainly less harsh with their punishment.

I am also able to do everything earlier than my sisters ever were. All rules have been relaxed quite a bit, much to my sisters’ jealousy.

People often say that younger siblings are stuck with having to “live up to” their older siblings, but I’ve only minimally felt this. Perhaps it’s the fact that I am so much younger than my older sisters, or perhaps it’s because I have entirely different interests from them, but I rarely feel like I’m not “living up” to my sisters.

Also, if anything I feel that being the youngest sibling has forced me to mature more quickly than most, certainly more quickly than my sisters did. Always being around older kids and wanting to be just like them led me to act more like them. My immaturity was also unwelcome and not encouraged by my siblings.

Perhaps because of being the younger sibling, and craving to “grow up fast,” I have been more defiant of authority. I don’t know if I see this as a positive or negative aspect, but it has certainly changed the way I view my control over situations. I feel that when my parents set rules, sometimes my older siblings questioned them less than I would, or did not attempt to modify any rules they were unhappy with.

Overall, I’ve certainly enjoyed being the youngest sibling, for I feel that it has given me lots of freedom that’s been crucial to my growing up.