No one likes being pushed aside. Ignored. Neglected. Silenced. Especially
a six year old. If nothing else, it’s deflating.
Being the eldest of five children, it was inevitable that I would
eventually feel overlooked. When you’re the only child, you don’t bother
questioning your position as center of your parents’ universe. You are
fabulous. That poop you did by yourself? The most amazing poop anyone has
ever done.
Though becoming a big sister was pitched to me as a positive life
change, it didn’t take me long to realize that I was now pitted against someone newer, cuter and louder for a
measly share of my parents’ time and attention. Like all first-borns the world
over, I began to struggle with my new reality: I am no longer their Sun, the
one they orbit around. I was demoted to “star”… one of many, all equally bright
in my parents’ universe.
There’s a fallacy in society that it’s only battered old men
and bitter old women who reminisce about years gone by, yearning for a simpler
time. I felt that way at six. In my mind, all of life’s complications could be
tracked back to this new sister-business. You see, I loved watching early
morning cartoons with my brother Shawn, but I hated that he had an equal say in
what we watched. And though I prized our family outings to the park on Saturday
afternoons, I always felt cheated when we had to leave early because Jason had
grown tired. Being an older sister was proving to be a double-edge sword
indeed, and I yearned for a simpler time when it was all about me.