In the highly controversial argument of who is the best child, a lot of people say it’s the oldest because they get whatever they want, and others say it’s the youngest because they get away with everything.

But, obviously, the middle child is the best.

Maybe I’m just biased because I’m the middle of five, but then again, wouldn’t I know the best?

With the oldest siblings, parents are still in their early years of parenting and probably aren’t too comfortable being super lenient with their child. That said if a kid is an only child (for now) and their mom is so protective that they can hardly do anything without holding mom’s hand.

According to live strong, the side effects of that overprotective early childhood lead to risk-taking, lack of self-confidence, an illusion of control, struggles with self-esteem, and not a great start to adulthood. Which, let’s be honest, doesn’t sound like the favorite child to me.

For the youngest, they receive the end of the short straw, because by then their parent has already gone through it all with at least two other kids. Now that mom and dad know the ins and outs of parenting, they can ease off their new baby’s back a little bit and not be the super helicopter parents the oldest child came to know. 

While that might sound great, the youngest will always be in for a harsh reality check when they get older because the world isn’t going to treat them like the youngest, meaning that they will have responsibilities they can’t get out of by being the baby of the family.

Being in the middle myself, I know that it’s the place to be.

The middle child doesn’t have all of the responsibilities the oldest does. The middle child isn’t treated like a baby. The middle child didn’t have overprotective or under protective mom.

And, let’s be real, we’re the meat of the family sandwich. Oldest and youngest are the bland bread, and us in the middle are the meat with all of the seasonings.