As a kid who grew up in the 70’s and 80’s, when I think of the term “middle child” my mind inevitably goes to Jan Brady crying “Marcia! Marcia! Marcia!”.
Entire episodes of that show were based on Jan’s status as the middle of three girls. I grew up as the oldest of three and I have three kids myself, so I’ve spent basically all of my life living with one middle child or another.
Notorious for being the best peacemakers as well as great negotiators, middle kids are often very successful.
In fact, 52% of U.S. Presidents were middle children. Middle children are also typically very empathetic, which makes them very good team players.
But many middle children identify with “middle child syndrome”, which Wikipedia defines as “the belief that middle children are excluded, ignored or even outright neglected because of their birth order.”
Hmm…be right back, gotta go give my middle child some extra attention!
In the meantime, I’ve rounded up some relatable posts for all you middles out there…enjoy!
Janene
#1 Uh-oh, mom’s in trouble now…
#2 Hey, no fair…
#3 I’m the oldest and I do this, I mean, doesn’t everybody do this LOL?
#4 So I actually just looked this up and apparently it’s true…middle children are dwindling. In the 1970’s, it was common to have three or four children. Today, almost 65% of women with children only have one or two. So the “middle child” is becoming increasingly rare…interesting.
#5 I do this to ALL my kids, not just my middle child!
#6 I’m betting that was her younger sister LOL…
#7 Well, at least he was an easy delivery!
#8 The battle cry of middle children everywhere…
#9 Somebody does NOT look happy…
#10 Jan is the classic middle child…
