Eldest Sibling

It's different being the oldest sibling. There are many conflicting feelings about being the "leader of the pack". Suddenly, your childhood bedtime of 7:30pm seems like torture in comparison to your sibling's 10:30pm bedtime. You remember waiting all week for the weekend to arrive so you can watch TV. Your younger siblings now all have Netflix downloaded on multiple devices to be streamed at moment's notice. These changes are not bad, just different. It feels weird almost as if you were programmed to operate a certain way that isn't compatible with their operating systems.

Now a part of you understands that things will change over time naturally as your parents are more adjusted to raising a child. They now know what to expect and how to handle situations that they were previously unknown. Your parents have adapted to their parenting lifestyle. They may no longer feel as anxious and stressed about raising a child.

It is also a weird experience because you feel a need to guide your siblings to the right path. You realize that similarly to when you were their age, there isn't much that you feel that you already don't know. Now the hard decision is to either mentor to deaf ears or to allow them to learn on their own.

Personally I learned from personal experience. Even if there were a thousand signs saying "Do not touch the stove", I would have to get burned before I would learn my lesson. First hand experience was the quickest way for me to learn why, how, and what not to do. So I now understand that no matter how hard it may seem, sometimes you need to allow your siblings to touch the stove. It may hurt in the moment but they will learn the same lesson: Do not touch the stove.