The Realities of Middle Child Syndrome

Back several months ago, I wrote an article for Associated Content on The Effects of Middle Child Syndrome. At the time that I wrote this article, little did I know that I would receive so many page views, comments and even private messages regarding this article. I was simply writing an article during a moment of weakness in my life, as I was feeling left out of a family function. So after all of the comments, both positive and negative, I felt I needed to elaborate more on this topic for myself and for many middle children out there. Most of what I am writing is in response to the comments and private messages I received.

I do not believe I was abused by my parents because I was the middle child or because I was the least noticed. My parents were overall good parents who I feel did the best that they knew how to do at the time. I'm sure like the rest of us, if we could go back and do some things over again with our children there would be many things that we would do differently. They taught me morals and a good strong work ethic.

Just because I talked about the realities of growing up as the middle child does not mean that I blame my childhood on my life today. As adults, we are responsible for our own actions and how our lives turn out. I do not condone or defend anyone who says, "I'm the middle child so that is why my life stinks". I believe that if you want a different life, then you need to make different choices to get better results. I have spent my entire life working hard to be the best I can be but none of us are perfect.

My article on middle child syndrome was discussing the realities of what it was like and what it is still like being a middle child. We all have times in our lives when we feel hurt, misunderstood and unappreciated. I just believe that this happens more with middle children.