As much as I love my little brother, being the oldest sibling can sometimes take a toll on me and can be a lot to handle. Our younger siblings often don’t understand what we go through and how much responsibility we must carry as the oldest sibling. Also, I don’t know if it’s just me, but I have been noticing my little brother is getting more freedom than I did when I was his age. What is up with that?
One of the struggles I noticed as an older sibling is that some of us are first-generation college students so that makes us feel more pressured to work hard and make our families proud. When family dinners or reunions take place, we are often called the “perfect child” by going to college or how we’re such role models to our relatives. Growing up, we were expected to have straight A’s and if our younger sibling gets a B or lower, it isn’t the end of the world for them, they just get a simple pat on the back and a “try your best next time”.
There are some days when we feel like the parent rather than the older brother or sister. In other words, the on-call babysitter for your siblings when it comes to doing chores. If each sibling got a chore, you are most likely to get the most time-consuming, worst chore ever. When a vase is broken or the food is all over the floor, you are often the first one to be blamed because you are the oldest.
Sometimes, our younger siblings must come with us when hanging out with friends so that we don’t do anything dangerous or dumb. Meanwhile, when our younger siblings grow up, they can do whatever they want without much supervision. They might not even have a curfew while us older siblings get scared if we come home a minute later. There are a lot of sacrifices we have to make as the oldest sibling.
Growing up as the oldest sibling is worse when your parents aren’t familiar with English or your country’s native language as they often tell us to translate important documents. Also, without our own older siblings, we must learn all about taxes, college applications, how to drive, and so much more all on our own! When you do start driving, you basically become an uber for your family too.
Unfortunately, the oldest sibling is the guinea pig of the family as we are also going through a lot that our siblings or even parents wouldn’t understand. There are for sure plenty of perks to being the oldest siblings such as new clothes, more maturity, more childhood photos, and being first in a whole lot of things.
You also get to see your best friend grow up beside you and they know they can confide in you rather than your parents. If you are a first-generation college student or a huge role model in your family, remind yourself now and then of how amazing and how proud you should be of yourself. I know I am proud of you. <3
