And The First Shall Be Last

Sibling groups always debate who got the raw deal in birth order roulette. The middles feel ignored. The babies complain of hand-me-downs. But it doesn’t matter what the other kids say, being the oldest is the hardest. Your parents are at their most neurotic. You get blamed for everything. And you end up being the free, built-in babysitter. For me, being the oldest came with all those things, but the plusses outweighed the minuses--except that whole taking the blame thing. My mother once jumped my case when my brother got PlayDoh on the carpet. And he was thirteen at the time. Seriously. I did do a lot of babysitting, but that was largely by choice. However, with great power comes great responsibility. If you’re going to watch the baby, you better keep on your toes. During one of many adventures with nine month-old Matthew, he fell asleep and I lowered the back of his ancient stroller so that he could lie flat. Unfortunately, when I tipped the stroller to go up a curb, my prone baby brother tumbled onto the street head first. Hysterical with grief and guilt, I grabbed him, leaving the stroller behind in the street, and ran all the way home. He was fine, but I was a mess and have never forgotten that moment. In Catherine Lukas’ Francie the Babysitter, big sister chimp resentfully tends baby brother chimp until he gets in terrible trouble and only she can save him. Sometimes being big comes in handy.

http://www.amazon.com/Francie-Baby-sitter-fabulous-five-minute-stories/dp/1599391015

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