MacGougan at Large
Notes on Birth Order - 4
The Youngest Child
Regardless of age, the Youngest child in any given family is inevitably The Baby. You would think that would be disempowering, but it isn’t. Like an actual infant, The Baby of the family is given license to command attention, control agendas, and ignore rules that apply to everyone else. Does that sometimes seem unfair to the attention-loving Oldest child and the rule-following Middle child? Tough noogies. Youth hath its privileges.
There are several factors in play here. These include:
Parents get worn down by successive children. What is a commandment for the Oldest becomes a guideline for the Middle and a suggestion for the Youngest.
Multiple kids start to tip the balance of power. It’s harder to enforce order when you’re outnumbered.
Loss of a key threat. Every kid starts out being the Youngest, but it doesn’t always last. At some point, the eventual Youngest knows they will always be the Youngest. When they realize that they don’t have to worry about ever being undercut by some new little sibling, it can go to their head.
This is not to say that all Youngest children are inevitably shameless rule breakers. It might just be a surprisingly longstanding coincidence.