by Daryl Bagley

Created on: June 10, 2009

It should be obvious, that like everything else, there are pros and cons to being the oldest. Since I am the oldest child in a family of seven, I will be speaking of my own experience. I believe the cons are much more bounteous then the pros, so I will start with the cons and move on to the pros.

CONS

When you're the oldest, you have to clean up after everyone else. You could be minding your own business, watching TV, while your siblings are making a mess. Then, though you did absolutely nothing wrong, mom makes you clean upon the mess along with all your siblings. I can't even begin to imagine why! If your sister leaves her food on the ground and it hardens becomes crusting stinky, and maybe even moldy, the oldest has to clean it up.

Then, there's the fact that the oldest has more chores then everyone else. Even when it looks equal on the amount it actually gives the other siblings easier, less time-consuming chores that they usually have more than one person working on.

But we don't want to forget the fact that the oldest is the parental test. The oldest has to go through the harshest treatment because as a beginner parent, that is the only way to get your kids to listen to you. Though in about the course of ten years, parents learn that there are other ways to make your kids listen to you other being mean to them, and they start implementing those new tactics to the younger siblings.

Not to mention that the oldest constantly has to watch his/her sibling with little to no pay. The only problem to that are the siblings themselves. They see the oldest as a peer while he/she is supposed to be the one in charge. This problem happens a lot with the second child, who usually thinks that they are as good as the oldest, though they would rather have fun instead of doing what's right.

When the parents decide to go to sleep, the oldest always has to substitute in and do the parents' job. This alone can make the oldest mature faster and there childhood go faster, with less enjoyment, even though the childhood is supposed to be the best part of your life.

The oldest has to do new things before the other siblings, and sometimes the parents. For example, I was the first in my family to take the FCAT (Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test) because my parents grew up in Texas. This can be hard to do without someone that you trust guiding you, like if you're first person to ever ride a bicycle.

PROS

The oldest usually gets a greater allowance than the rest of their siblings, so they are able to make more and better purchases to live a greater life style.

The oldest is usually first to do things with an age restriction. Those things include driving, going to college, and getting into certain groups.

Plus when you are born first you get to do other things with the money your parents earned then spend it on your siblings. Those things include eating out, buying games and toys, even going to theme parks like Disney World.

CONCLUSION

Being the oldest isn't that great,

So I'm here to state,

That something I would change,

Would be my age.

But maybe I should be glad,

Because being the oldest isn't all bad.

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