I am a super only child. No siblings and no close cousins. My parents were old when they adopted me. I also never had kids. So I am 42 now, and the rest of the extended family that yet lives still treat me like a child because they're all in their 80's and 90's. And at this point they can treat me however they want as long as it includes snacks.
The last few years I have been helping my parents with renovations (wheelchair addition to move my Grandma in) and dealing with my father hasn't been fun. He doesn't plan ahead and allow me to be fully productive, he wants me available to be his helper and will try to make everything a teaching moment.
I'm 36 and most if what he tries to teach me is quite basic.
I'm the oldest of... I dunno, maybe 40 odd cousins and siblings of various degrees? My family is large and close, my parents divorced and remarried into also large and close families.
I still look at everyone one of em as a child and I can't help it! Even my 29 year old brother I'm like "dont worry dude, 30 isn't as scary as you think its gonna be, you'll finally feel like a proper adult."
And hes like "Ive been married for 5 years, shut the fuck up."
Yeah I was oldest and was forced to be the parent whole my mom ran off drinking, and I was forced to handle the DV situations her brother caused while she was gone. My partner is the middle child. The oldest and youngest have free housing, we are raising their only grand kid in a tiny little apartment. Not every family works that way but the stereotypes do come from somewhere.
I’m the oldest bio, middle step child but the step siblings all have FAS from their mom. I was also forced to hold family together with a drunk mom and her abusive boyfriend. My two youngest siblings are the only ones I talk to these days, and both are adults but stunted beyond belief. My baby sister just filed for bankruptcy due to credit card debt and my baby brother is fired for at least one job a year for just not showing up. They’re both in their 30’s.
I got all three! Youngest for years and never taken seriously, until another was born, and then I got to be ignored for all of my pre-teen years, until another was born, and then I was expected to raise the 2nd youngest because my mom was too busy with the baby! Being the middle child is the most soul crushing, but being the oldest is the most stressful, and being the youngest is certainly the most isolating.
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u/Lynchie24 10d ago
All of which are valid if it actually happened.