The Middle Child

This spring the ABC hit comedy series “The Middle”, ended after 9 seasons and we said goodbye to the Heck family, Mike (the dad), Frankie (the mom), Axel (oldest child) ,Sue (middle child), and Brick (the youngest).  If you were a fan, you know there were some very funny and very poignant moments that most families could relate to in one way or another.  But one of the most significant scenes in the 9 year run came in the final episode.  It was a scene in which the three siblings on the eve of Axel, the oldest, moving away, were reminiscing and discussing their feelings for the family and each other.Sue tells Brick, the youngest child, that while she and Axel (the oldest) had many happy adventures and memories when it was just the two of them, she is still happy Brick came along.  He is surprised at this and he says he always thought it was hard to be the middle child.

Sue’s response is emotional genius to consider for anyone who is a middle child or has a middle child.  It is an outlook we rarely, if ever, consider because as Brick says, we always hear about how hard it is to be “the middle” child.

Sue tells Brick “I always felt lucky in the middle because I get to have an older brother AND a younger brother. I get to be a big sister AND a little sister. The middle is the safest place to be.  You’ve got love on both sides of you.”

Now what a difference that perspective could make if you felt “stuck” in the middle of your family!  What a wonderful message for a parent of a middle child to impart to that child while they are growing up…telling that child how fortunate he or she is, instead of bemoaning the common attitude of “woe is me, not the first and not the baby, just the one who is not so special, the one stuck in the middle”.  It really all goes back to outlook and attitude.  Sue is grateful for the position she has in her family birth order.  She finds the good in it and lives accordingly.  How different your middle child’s life could be if he or she learned early on to appreciate, and be grateful for, the good of that position in the family.

Even now as an adult, how different your life as a middle child might be if you could rewrite your story with the knowledge that you too were fortunate to be in the middle and be surrounded on both sides by love.  It’s not too late to start reminding your child, or yourself, with this positive message.  As has been so wisely said, “It’s never too late to be what you might have been”, in this case, a very grateful, well adjusted, happy middle child.

As we have mentioned so very many times here on Two Chums, “Gratitude is riches”.  Here’s to you or your middle child finding the richness of having love all around you.