Spoiled

Sheldon and me, the oldest and the youngest.

My friend Brit, from She Made It: Crafts, and I have had a few conversations about placement in a family and the differences between being the oldest, Brit and being the youngest, me.  We've talked about how the older kids in a family have different parents than the youngest.  How even though you have the exact same set of parents your childhood's are most likely completely different.

You see, when it comes to being the oldest, there is a learning curve that parents must go through.  They make mistakes.  Lots of them.  Then, as more kids come along and the oldest gets, well older, parents learn from their mistakes.  Parents also get more financially secure as the years go by and are able to buy and do things for the younger kids that they weren't able to do for the older kids.

My older siblings think that as the youngest I was spoiled.  Spoiled rotten.  I guess from their viewpoint I was.  I got to wear some store bought clothes (in high school I loved to shop at thrift stores and Ross).  Though I do remember the days of powdered milk I also remember when my parents switched to real cow's milk bought from the store in plastic jugs.  When we went to Price Club (olden days Sam's Club) my parents used to let us (the three youngest) get Dr. Pepper and Ding Dongs.  When I was the only one left at home and my parents went on their Friday night date they would always bring me back dinner from their favorite french restaurant, Carl's Jr. I also had no real curfew.  My parents told me to be home by midnight but if I was going to be late all I had to do was call.

Now while all of this may sound dreamy, especially to my older siblings, they got to experience things with my parents that I never did.  I guess my parents used to plant a big garden in the backyard all year round.  My mom used to can and make homemade bread and she also used to make brussel sprouts, and liver and onions for dinner (okay now while the last two things don't sound so good, all the other stuff seems pretty neat).  

Because of my "privileged" upbringing, my older siblings would tease me and my parents mercilessly about how spoiled I was.  Especially, my brother Sheldon.  He was always giving me and my parents a hard time about how easy I had it.  So, I couldn't help myself when I would call my brother to brag about my dad giving me his credit card and checkbook so I could go shopping.  Of course, the part I didn't tell him is that my dad gave me his credit card and checkbook to buy bras and that was it.  My dad knew I would never buy anything else.  But I couldn't help myself.  It was just too easy to get my brother's panties in a bunch.

I guess if you look at the specifics of my childhood and compare them to that of my siblings, I was spoiled.  I'm not trying to deny it.  It is one of the positives of being the youngest.  But never forget there are negatives of being the youngest as well, like wearing out of date hand me downs, getting teased mercilessly by your older siblings, and..., and...., well to tell you the truth I can't really think of any more negatives to being the youngest.  Ya, I was/am spoiled and I'm okay with it.

Hey, Sheldon.......Ne ner, ne ner, ne ner!