Always the second best?

The Middle Child Syndrome...

I've always been said to have that syndrome.. Whenever I start to have my gastric, Dad would always say.. "dah start dah dia nya syndrome"..

Should I be blamed for being the middle child? Being the 2nd out of 3 darling angels?

What is "the middle child syndrome"?

"Middle child syndrome can entail feeling sandwiched between two other 'more important'; people - an older sibling who gets all the rights and is treated like an adult and a younger sibling who gets all the privileges and is treated like a spoilt kid. This can leave you feeling insignificant and unloved. From your parents' perspective, they'd probably feel horrified to know you feel this way, so it's important you let them know. On the plus side, middle children are thought to become brilliant diplomats - the lack of having your parents all to yourself supposedly helps you develop excellent negotiating powers!"

Well that's the definition from the expert.

Is it true that all middle children suffers from the same syndrome?

Well, I can't deny the fact that I am an attention seeker when I was small. I'll try to catch my parent's attention in every way I can. However, I don't recall ever being sick on purpose. Or even falling down on purpose and knocked my head at the drain while running in an oversized "terompah", screaming, "yeay ayah balik... ayah balik".. only to be screamed at caused my tired Dad had ended up driving me to the hospital to stitch my broken skull.

Nope... Never did all of that on purpose...

I was a little angel.... *winks*

However, I do recall feeling sandwiched in between the two sisters while growing up. Well of course...

Kak Nor's the eldest, hence, she gets to have all the credits for everything. She's the high flyer in the family. Constantly scoring the top 10 in her class during primary and went off to the top all girls boarding school. She then left for Japan to pursue her degree. Parents mana tak bangga kan?

Lil' Sis pulak is the baby of the family... "Baby Ayah". Plus she's cute when she was little (dgn nada jeles? oh tidak...). She always gets her way.. All she needs to do was bats her thick and curly lashes or if that doesn't work, she'll just cry and the parents will come running after her. Eh ye ke? Or I'm over exaggerating? *lol*

Well, the fact is, I did somehow felt like I was always second best over the two sisters. I did recall writing a letter (yes I write letters) to Kak Nor, when she was away in JB, complaining about how Ayah and Mama always sided with Lil Sis. I was treated like an anak tiri (well... yes I was a drama queen too...). I remember the letter had tear drop stains on it.. Ingat tak Kak Nor? *lol*

Ok Ok...
Why am I babbling nieh? Well, I heard on Hitz.fm today that there was a research done on "the middle child syndrome"... and the findings states that the middle child are always the least successful, among his/her siblings. They are also a non-achiever in life...

I was really stunned when I heard that statement... B*llsh*t laaa... Who in the h*ll did that research. I was so tempted to call the station and state my facts, but another caller beats me to it. Luckily she shared my view on the matter and had set the facts straight.

Well, I don't think I'm a loser amongst my siblings. I won't say that I'm great either, but I shall say that we are all equally good in our own field.

Kak Nor's a great writer and wishes to be the National Geographic reporter one day.

Lil' Sis's a very dedicated interior architecture student, who in the future will be very successful pursuing her artistic interest.

And as for me, I'm paving my way in becoming a qualified charted accountant cum lady entrepreneur, with my very own cafe in the future.

There..... all successful girls....

Oh yeah, a very wise man pointed out to me that John F. Kennedy was a middle child, and we all know that he was a successful person, rite?

Hence, I would like to put a stop to the "Middle Child Syndrome". There's no such thing as the said syndrome. If the middle child is trying to get the parent's attention, maybe they just needed the extra TLC during that stage of their lives... Cherish it while it lasted!



binx: very very notty kid when small...