Some of you have probably been here…

I’ve touched on this subject before. I’ve been fascinated by the term ever since I came across it as an actual child, as well as by observations and studies on how birth order in families with siblings might influence the shape and course of our lives, character traits, social interactions. It’s not all black and white, though. Just because you were born the youngest doesn’t mean you can’t have leadership skills, same as being the oldest doesn’t set you up as domineering.

Plenty of people will think or even tell you to your face that being a middle child is nothing special (speaking from experience). But we all know the truth, don’t we? And then we say things like…

To be fair

Disclaimer/

Before I continue

I would like to point out

Just to conclude a thought

It’s possible

You might remember/

Maybe

On the one hand

On the other hand

Well

It’s just my opinion, but

I don’t mind either way

I’m OK with both

I haven’t really thought about this

I don’t have enough information

Is everyone comfortable?

Do you have time/ Do you have a minute/ Am I interrupting/ I can call you later

It’s OK, I can wait

No, you go first

Hmm, I can’t pick just one, but maybe we can do something with both…

Growing up, Charmed (the one from 1998) was one of my favorite shows. Sure, it was about witches, which (ha) added to the excitement, but it was also about three sisters, something I immediately related to. Piper Halliwell was my favorite sister from the beginning, though I loved the other two for various reasons. But, you see, Piper was the middle sister, like me, a fact that was mentioned on the show often enough and I was thrilled, as any kid would be, to have a fictional figure to look at. The interesting thing is, spoiler alert, that while Piper’s family life changed quite a bit, she retained her middle sister characteristics throughout the show.

Once a middle child, always a middle child…