1. You never get blamed for anything.
Whether it was you who broke mom's fave lamp or not, you always get off easy, because your older sibling should have known better than to leave you alone with said lamp and should have stopped you, thereby, making it really their fault. And when there's no way to shift the blame, your parents still let you off easy because you're their little, innocent baby.
2. You get to hang out with your sibs' cool, older friends.
All your friends think you're the coolest person ever because you have tons of older friends who say hi to you in the hall. Sure, they don't know you only know them because your parents forced your older siblings to let you hang out with them, but whatevs.
3. What's theirs is yours.
It stunk getting all the hand-me-down clothes and toys growing up, but your older sister/brother had to fight to be allowed to drive the family van for two whole years before your parents finally got them their own car, but YOU got a car right when you turned sixteen (AKA, your parents made your older sibling share).
4. You get to learn from your sibs' mistakes.
Remember that time your sis took the car without asking to go to the mall with that guy the rents totally didn't approve of her dating and got grounded for six weeks for it? Yeah, you're def not going to be doing that any time soon.
5. And they give you all the deets on surviving high school.
They know all the best classes to take, which teachers to avoid, and all the ins and outs of dealing with crushes. Plus, they're not totally lame like your parents, so they'll tell you the very important intel, like which teacher never gives homework or how to kiss your crush.
6. You always have a ride.
If your parents weren't around to drive you, they'd make your older sibs drive you, no matter how hard they protested.
7. And someone to help you with homework.
If you were having trouble with your English homework, your parents would just tell your older siblings to help you. If you were lucky, they had the same reading assignment a year or two before and knew the exact answer that would get you the A!
8. Your parents went through all the hard stuff with your older siblings so they're so much more chill with you.
Your dad is totally cool teaching you how to drive, because he already went through it with your older brother and lived. And your mom is totally cool with you dating because your older sister did and she turned out alright. Your siblings already broke all the rules, so when you do it, it doesn't seem so devastating. Not to mention your sibs already fought the hard fight and got you a later curfew.
9. You develop a thick skin and the best sense of humor.
It's a given that your older siblings pick on you, and you mostly had to take it, so you quickly developed a thick skin. Not to mention, when you were a kid, you thought your older siblings were the coolest EVER, so you did any stupid thing they told you to do and ended up looking stupid because they were totally messing with you. So even though you cringe at some of the crazy things your sibs convinced you to do (like eat a worm off the ground because it gave you magical powers), it taught you to laugh at yourself, and the haters. Not that anyone messes with you because...
10. You have automatic bodyguards.
Even though your older sibs totally resent the fact that you get a ton of special treatment and perks from your youngest child status, they still totally defend you whenever you need them like Katniss at the Reaping (because they're the only people who are allowed to mess with you).
11. And lifelong friends.
Some people move out of your life as quickly as they come in, but your siblings are your constant besties. They can be counted on to give you the honest truth about anything (no matter how brutal), and while you'd never admit it, you love having such cool, older role models. Even though they pretend to only hang out with you because your parents make them, you know they secretly love hanging out with you, whether it's for an impromptu movie night or a sleepover where they bestow all their worldly knowledge on you. You'll always be their little sibling and they wouldn't have it any other way.
Are you a youngest child? What was your favorite perk of being the baby? Share in the comments below!
-NK-
