Oldest Children.

I'm the oldest of three. I'm almost 14, Bernadette is 10, and Josiah is 7.

Cool thing? As previously stated, your the oldest.
Sucky thing? I don't have a life because they're too imature to babysit themselves.

Oldest of three and the only girl. Liam's 16 and Anthony's 14 this year. I don't really have any irks about it nor do I have any pros about it.

Well, being an older child is not all that bad... if the difference between you and the younger ones is not more than two years... because being 11 years old and changing you brother's diapers is not a dream come true experience. And let me tell you one thing, my brother was not all that classy with WC business =|

I'm the oldest of two. I'm 14, Maddie is 9.

I agree with everyone who says they were the "experiment." I definitely am. When I was nine, I wasn't allowed to stay up until 10. I went to bed at 8. I wasn't allowed to watch shows like Degrassi. And I didn't get away with everything.

Honestly, I hate being the oldest. My mom works 12 hour shifts and her fiance just sits around all day, so I basically raise my sister. And you know what sucks? When my mom is home, I get in trouble for asking her to do something she should have done hours earlier.

A usual conversation;
Me: Maddie, put away your half of the dishes.
Maddie: Just a minute.
*an hour later*
Me: Maddie, dishes.
Maddie: You're not the boss of me!
Mom: Stop telling your sister what to do, you aren't the mother!

Really?
That's another thing; I never got away with "Just a minute." I got spanked if I didn't do what I was supposed to, or if I talked back to my mom or dad.

My sister is the favorite. She's the miracle child, because she survived cancer. I respect that and I love her to death, but it's not fair that she's favorited. My mom favors her, and my dad favors her when we go to his house.

She literally failed every subject the last quarter of school, and most of the other quarters. I'm surprised she didn't get held back.

Her punishment? A week of no TV/computer, and she has to work on a few workbook pages each day of the summer.

I would get grounded for a month or more if I got a C. And when I get a B, it's always "You can do better."

And she is a complete brat.

It does have its perks though. I'm WAY more independent, and I'm, well, oldest.

I think I'm ranting now
But yeah. I hate being the oldest, for the most part.

I'm the oldest of three.
My situation is a little bit different, though, because I'm biologically an only child. My parents had LOTS of difficulty conceiving, like they tried for 13 years before they finally had me, so I was kind of supposed to be the one and only. I always wanted siblings, though, so we went into foster care. I guess technically I've been the oldest and the middle (never the youngest), but after we adopted my brother and sister, we quit fostering.
My sister is eight, my brother is seven, and I'm eighteen, so there's obviously a huge age difference. It's good and bad I guess. I get to take them to do all the cool stuff, like to the beach and the movies and their sports games, but I also have to baby sit every weekend.
The weird thing is that I get away with stuff more than they do. Instead of the youngest being spoiled, I am. I'm lucky, haha :)

I'm the oldest of three. My sister's turning 16 and my brother just turned 14.

The thing I most have a problem with is really insecure and petty... but... ever notice how most famous or successful people were the youngest? Idk, something stupid I have but sometimes it gets me. And I know there are exceptions to the rule but still. I can't get it out of my head. XD

I guess it's kind of good I don't have an older sibling. I don't deal with authority too well... like if they tried to boss me around or anything heh. And I like being the first to try things but I think as a result of that need to conquer everything I've tried too many things and never settled for one. So I don't feel like I have any talents.

My parents expected a lot of me, though, like with my final year of high school and stuff. And I got through it okay, I just feel bad for my sister now because my marks turned out a lot better than expected. XD

I'm the oldest of two, but my family is really close, and i'm the oldest of all my cousins also.
I agree that older siblings are kind of a test. Often i'm expected to set an example for cousins, and look out for them. My aunt sometimes asks me to talk to her daughters and steer them in the right direction.
sometimes the expectations are a bit much, but I don't mind so much being the oldest now as much as I did when I was younger.

Double post.

Luna Skyest:

Sucky thing? I don't have a life because they're too imature to babysit themselves.

Totally get what you mean. Oldest of 3. Im 14, my brother is 12, and my sister is 5. I usually just watch the kids all day. But in return if I ask like a few hours in advance, I can usually go hang out with friends for a couple hours.

When I was her age, I got to stay up until nine, but shes stays up as long as my brother and I. Im like dude, for real?

For me, this kind of depends on how you look at it.

Out of my father's children, I am the second-youngest of five.
Out of my mother's children, I am the oldest of two.

However, my mother raised me and my younger brother all alone from age five onward, I never saw my dad much after that and he didn't really contribute to raising me at all.

So I know the pros and cons of being the oldest child in a family, but I also have experience being a middle child.

Anywho, my perks and disadvantages are pretty much the same as everyone else's in this thread :) ie; not having to use hand-me-downs, being trusted with important things, being the "experiment" as well, hehe :)

dru kept it forever.:

The problem with being the oldest is that you're generally the science experiment. You got harsher rules at that age than they did, blah blah blah.

Cool things are that you're the oldest.

Haha, I made a comment on the forum about being the youngest but I'm the oldest (didn't see this forum) I said one of the cons about being the oldest is that you're like the science experiment.

I am the oldest of five, but I only live with one of them and they were born five years ago so I somewhat grew up as an only child.

I'm the oldest of two. My sister is fourteen and she has so much more freedom than I did at that age. My parents would give me freedom and allow me to get something, or do something and she is allowed the same thing. It is quite irritating. I'm only two years older than her, so it isn't that bad. And we are quite close. I like being the oldest most of the time.

I'm the oldest of 3. Joshua is 11 and Emilie is 9. Me, the science experiment? Totally. Sometimes I feel like I'm drowning in rules. Suffocating on my parents attempt to not let me "get too old, too fast". Yeah, right. I don't mind babysitting and stuff, but seriously. And they get away with WAAAYYYY more than I ever did. My brother talks back all the time and if I had done that? No, never mind. I knew better. And my sister is the "baby" of the family so for some reason she never gets in trouble for anything. At all. I love my brother and sister, but in my opinion they can be spoiled little brats. They don't have any respect.. Butttt... if you ask my parents, I'm the one with the problem. Whatever.

"But she hit/kicked/bit/punched me first!"
"Yes, but you're old enough to know better. You're supposed to be setting an example."

"I'm not lying. She's lying."
"she's just a little girl. What reason does she have to lie?"

my childhood.

I'm the eldest of 5 children.
Below me the ages are: 18, 13, 9, 6.

Oldest of two. My younger sister is 15 months younger than me, and we're both accident children.

My dad has Type 1 diabetes and he wasn't supposed to get my mom pregnant, but then they had me. My mom learned her lesson, got on the pill, but got pregnant again anyways (and now I know for a fact that the pill is not 100% effective) with my sister.

It's more of a perk because as far as my parents know, I'm the good one. So I get the favoritism vote, and my sister tends to pick fights over the stupidest things (well at home she does).

Bad side? There's more pressure on me because I'm the oldest, and my parents expect more/better out of me than my sister. But as I said, I have the favoritism vote so I tend to get away with more. (Just goes to show that NOT fighting with your parents a lot actually pays off in the end.)

And I know this probably doesn't count, but I have five younger cousins- they are 15, 7, 7, 4 (I think), and 3- and I get stuck babysitting two of them all the time. On the bright side, I get money and I'm preparing myself for when I have kids. Bad side: The seven-year old hit her teenage-years early (minus PMS... which hasn't really changed anything) and the three-year-old is a little monster and neither listen to me all the time.

Good side to being the oldest (to both):
I get first choice
I get the newer stuff
Favorite (which is debatable for some family members)

Bad side:
More pressure
Babysitting the seven and three year old

Oldest of four females. Ages are nine (ten in three days), six, and five.

Bad? Same as post before me. More pressure, babysitting, and favoritism.
Good? Basically the same as everyone, being the oldest.

Im 17 and i lived with my mom and the guy who used to be my stepdad. When i was 6 i got a half brother. I love him so much, hes now 11. My mom and I have that bond of girls. She always said that i was an easy child. I slept the whole night after a couple of months i was born ( I think ive always liked sleeping haha) I always did my homework on my own, and all in all ive always been really independent and that helo my mom a lot, but my brother hates homeworks and has hard time concentrating so this frustrates my mom. She thought that every cild would be as easy as me haha.

I now am living with my dad who married and had two kids. they're 8 and 6 i think. They get so spoiled its sick! When we travel I can get really pissed off because I want to do stuff like go to a bar or more like night life or go shopping but we never can because of them.

I havent really bonded much with them since ive just lived with them for 3 years.

But yeah the older kid can get a lot of shit. They expect of us, to be the best, at least my father does. my mom understands a bit more. Shes now living with her new byfrind and my brother and she says she needs a girl because shes always with guys. that connects us alot. Cause me and my stepmom get along but shes not my mom.

I know my life is complicated. hahaha

I'm the oldest of three; my sister's 18 and my brother's 16. I'm the closest to my parents, but I'm definitely the science experiment. I'm more likely to be asked to look after the other two, such as paying my sisters phonebill and making sure my brother doesn't forget to wash his school uniform. I always also end up with the most flack when something goes wrong or isn't done in the house.

My dad's the oldest, but he had two sister's so doesn't understand having a younger brother. My mam has no sisters (that she lived with for any measure of time) and is the second of six, and so doesn't understand. My parents are a lot more lax with my siblings; they get away with a lot more than I do. They were also more over protective of me as a child, more so because I was also an unhealthy baby.

I also don't get treats nearly as often - it's more likely that my sister will get new clothes given but I'll have to buy my own, even before I was of adult age.

To be honest, in my family there are no perks of being the oldest. The authority of it is a myth - my sister's the bossy, owerpowering one and my brother is sly and doesn't listen.