Growing up as a middle child has always been a struggle of mine. I joke with my family and say that I have the middle child syndrome because I possess all the qualities that scientists list. Studies show that the middle child is the one that is usually left out when other siblings play and hang out and they are also a lot more different than their brothers and sisters. Well, put all that together AND being left handed! Mother always called me "the creative one" and that I was just her more "social" child.. aka I wasn't as naturally smart and successful as my brother and sister. My mom even said that when I was young she would try to hand me something directly to my right hand and I would reach over and grab it with my left, she even tried to train me that using my left hand was bad until she finally just gave in and accepted the fact that I was the middle, left handed child. When my brother and sister were playing video games together, I was pushing my cat and barbie dolls around the house in stroller. When we all got older, my brother joined the boy scouts and my sister was part of the math team in elementary school while I took dance lessons. But now, that was my time to shine because when I had a recital I was no longer the one left out, I was the center of attention for once. Then when it came time that my brother and I were both in high school, he couldn't stand me. Since my brother was, what we still call him, "the golden child", my mom trusted him and let him go and do what ever he asked because he would never lie.. Well, when it came my turn to do the SAME thing that he was doing, it was like I was being interrogated with 21 questions. my parents would always check up on me and make sure I wasn't lying about where I was or what I was doing, regardless if my brother was there with me! But my brother hated it when his friends would invite me to come hang out with them because who wants their little sister hanging out with them? I still to this day claim that I am treated differently than the rest of my family because I am also the odd man out. I am always the last to know about anything going on with the family, my parents make more effort to come see my brother than they do with me, even though we both live in Tampa now! Come to think of it, I don't know if it the middle child syndrome or just favoritism...

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The Monster Child Syndrome