Happy Middle Child Day!

Ah, the middle child. Forgotten and overly ambitious. I am one of 5 children, two of whom are twins, and one of them I consider our “middle child”. Please join me as I dare to dissect the mind of…. *dun dun dun* The Middle Child, my sister, Katarina.

Faith (over Facetime): Katarina, thanks for taking the time out of your day to talk with me and answer a few questions. I figure I’ll just jump right into it.  A personality trait of being the middle child is being overshadowed. Was it hard living in my shadow as a child?

Katarina: *just blinks* Actually, no, it wasn’t, because you didn’t do anything!

F: A hugely famous trait of a middle child is that they are forgotten about. Would you say that this is correct, in your experience?

K: (pauses) Yes, I always felt forgotten all the time, and not just because of you (referring to her twin). I’m the one people don’t have to worry about. When I was in college people wouldn’t ask me how school was going because they knew it was going well. I’m often not asked how work is going (she is a successful controller of a company). Most people don’t even know what my job title is.

F: Would you say you overcompensate by being overly successful?

K: I think I overcompensate by being empathetic and asking people those questions and making sure no one feels forgotten.

F: Middle children also receive no attention… What are your thoughts on that?

K: Well, one time when we were children, Kiersten (twin) and I ran away from mom in the store once and she didn’t notice we were gone. It wasn’t until we ran into grandma and she said “wheres your mom”? (Solid)

F: Middle children also tend to compete for attention. When you decided to go Penn State, what brand of crystal ball did you use to see that I was going to marry into a Buckeye family and steal all of the attention from you (mostly bad attention because, ew, Buckeyes)?

K: I feel like it was the magic 8 Ball we got when we were younger.

F: Middle Children are known as peacekeepers, do you think that’s why when we ask you where you want to eat when we have family dinners, you say “whatever you want” or “you pick just tell me where to go?”

K: Probably, I don’t like confrontation. And I just like making people feel happy and putting others first. But often that backfires because people don’t put me first (classic middle child)

Middle children get a bad rep, and my sister and I have a great relationship! Each child has their own special dynamic, and especially coming from a large family, each person’s unique additions to that family are important! Without the “middle child”, my family would be missing a huge piece! My sister is loyal, incredibly caring, generous, quick thinking (she often got us out of trouble as children!), and amazingly independent! And after all, without the middle child- who will we tease during holidays!?