It depends on the parents. I am the youngest of 4. 3 sister and 1 brother. I was their maid. They all had "more important things to do", and since I was the child and "none of my life was important" I had to wait on them. The older sister got a boyfriend who abused me. Why? Because noone was paying attention to anything. Large families are too noisy and there is too much going on. My older sister had babies, and suddenly it was all about the babies. Lost a big part of my adolescence because I had to take her of her babies. A lot of websites feature parents with lots of children saying how great it is to have a large family. I always think: "Nobody is asking the children". As an adult I know I have no say in the lives of other people and I have to accept whatever a person decides to do. But the child I was has a message for everybody: Only have children if you, yourself will take care of them. If you have all the time, patience and resources to do so. Never leave a child in care of another child. Never make your children "share" their things, their time or give up any aspect of their own lives for the sake of their siblings. It´s unfair. It hurts. It makes your child feel used and devalued as a human being. It teaches your child that another human being is more valuable than he/she is. Think of the child... Think of the child...
Being the eldest child of the family had its good and bad points. Usually the bad points exceed the good ones. The major bad point is that the eldest child has to take responsibilities for themselves at an early age and do not get to completely live a carefree childhood. They not only have to take responsibility for themselves but also for their younger brother and/ or sister. At times the eldest child is expected to compromise at certain places where as the younger siblings are given those advantages.
The eldest child is expected to set an example for their younger sibling, sometimes even make a sacrifice to what they want to do themselves. The younger sibling can choose what they want, even decide what they want to do because usually the expectations are of the eldest not the younger child of the family, and thus the elder child is usually pressurized into doing things which they do not want to do. At times, the elder child has to shoulder the blame for the things they have not done and are punished for it for the sake of the younger one.
The younger sibling can be rude, selfish and even self centred but the elder child has to be the foundation stone of the family, display character and strength and even keep a strong hold on their emotions and be a tower of strength for their entire family. Having a younger sibling sometimes results in disasters which have to be faced by the elder sibling to avoid any misfortune. All this contributes to a difficult life for the elder sibling.
All family relationships have their ups and downs, their good and bad points. It doesn't matter is its a parent, a sibling or an aunt, we can all go through rough patches. The good thing is that the family bond is strong and you can always put these things behind you.
The bad points about having younger siblings are few and far between. The thing which is most common is bickering and fighting. Some brothers and sisters will get on like a dream, but most will have a turbulent time growing up! You may feel that your younger brother or sister gets away with more things just because they are younger.
Sometimes our siblings get an easier deal than we did because our parents have an idea of how hard they can be or what boundaries they can put in place from us.
Some think that their younger brothers or sisters are loved more. That's just not the case. Sometimes they need more attention because they are less capable than you are.
My experience being 1 of 7 is siblings in large families only help each other when there is significant personal gain. Confidences are never kept but exploited at the earliest opportunity. Factionalism reigns and there is a shifting roster of scapegoats, but the 2 or 3 who win the popularity contest never serve that function. It hurts, its fake, its lonely, its depressing. The independence is born of isolation, lack of trust and self preservation. Parents don't have time to love more than 3 kids and brothers and sisters don't have the interest in getting to know more that 1 or 2 of their siblings. The siblings that fit most with their lifestyle are retained and the ones that don't are discarded. The competition level is high and it is extremely hurtful & destructive. The generational gap within the family causes further problems and the siblings that did the babysitting hold it against everyone else forever because they reckon the parents gave up.Your mother is emotionally distant and your dad thinks being a pissed moron is being fun. Being an only child might be lonely but at least you know why - loneliness & isolation in a sea of blood related people is just bewildering. I'd rather the microscope of being a single child that being the feeling of being yesterdays sewerage in a big family. Maybe 2- 3 kids in a family stop the polarised feelings - I hope so because I have three kids and I have no desire for them to be 40 and wondering why the sisters they played with as kds, shared rooms with, ate with, holidayed with etc think its ok to treat them like an ornament they take out of a box for family functions and then discard for the rest of the year. Yep, I'm hurt, confused and more that a little disillusioned by families. Control yourselves and don't have more than 3 kids.
Much better to have siblings! Only children become the focus of attention for the parents and this is bad for the child - they can be spoiled, and I have seen the opposite where the parents were so critical because they never stopped watching the child, everything it did was another subject for discussion. I came from a family where the mother was all-controlling, and I can tell you, if I hadn't had my sister there to soak up some of the flak, I would have gone completely barmy! It's very important for kids to grow up in a family with other children, otherwise it's very hard for them to learn how to socialise successfully when they get to school. They need to learn that the whole world doesn't revolve around them, that they have to share sometimes or wait their turn.
Some disadvantages are... 1. Sometimes your siblings can annoy you 2. Sometimes you just want some time to yourself 3. BABYSITTING!
Some advantages are... 1. There is always someone around 2. Your parents won't have as much time to put your life under the microscope 3. You will never be bored 4. Sometimes, siblings become best friends
It is better to have siblings. Being a single child is boring. Furthermore, if you are a single child, your every move will be under a "large microscope".
Having siblings is awesome! The truth is that I have never regretted not being an only child. This is mainly because, I think a sibling can always be your best friend and companion. If you are a single child, your mom will never learn to let you go and be free!
Well, the disadvantages of having a younger brother or sister is that anything that you have they beg you for it not only that you have to change your plans to do something for them. Little brothers/sisters always trouble you and you get their blame and also they could get away with any thing but you can't!the sibling family can be really furstrating and tiresome but although I go through some of these troubles I have to learn to responsible and be strong anything ahead my way. A nd I hope you readers do too!
It is really hard to say if it is better or worse to come from a family with brothers or sisters or to come from a family with no siblings.
I came from a larger family and it was nice to have the older ones be able to take me places or look out for me and teach me things. Being a single child would not have this advantage. But with there being so many of us, dad and mom were always very busy working and doing things to make sure we had what we needed so that seems like it would be one of the bad things. Most of the kids I knew that were single child families, were very spoiled and their parents seemed to be very controlling. As time went on, they seemed to lash out and become very independent in life.
It is better having lots of siblings hands down! You're never bored, you always ave someone you can count on, you don't have to deal with the drama of being "accepted" by your friends, cause you will already know how to interact with others!
It's a very common psychology of the parents that they love their younger children more than their elder children and it is because of this, that they get preferential treatment sometimes from their parents.
One of the most important bad points about having younger brother or sister is that you loose your control over the affairs of your home like what will be cooked in dinner will most probably be the choice of your younger sibling rather than you. Another bad point that could arise is the fact that if your parents could not afford to have a bigger home where you can enjoy a separate room than your room can be sacrificed too.
On serious note the most important disadvantage of having siblings whether younger or elder is the inheritance issue. With more children the inheritance is divided into as many hands as the total children therefore this can even create bitter jealousy among the kids and this jealousy and rivalry can sometimes prove very dangerous to keep the whole family intact and combined. Most of the wars that are fought in the human history are because of money and money is something which can really make a man against man for sake of simple wealth.
The disadvantages may vary on your position in the family like if you're the eldest or a middle child...
If you're the eldest most of the attention will be on you or the youngest. There aren't a lot of disadvantages when you are the eldest. The only disadvantage that I know is if you and your younger sibling have different sexes.
When you're the middle child there would be tone of disadvantages because you don't have a special place because you're not the first and the last. First are you doing to get attention from your parents? You could be bullied together by your younger and older siblings. You could often be alone. You're always left out. And nobody will ever notice that you're there or not there...
And it also depends on the gap of your younger siblings.
I have a sibling, but he always disturbs me..f.e going somewhere or in sharing everything. I can't say that my parents attention isn't big because of my bro.. No they always check me more than my bro... :@
