Stuck in the Middle with You

I'm a middle child.  Actually, I'm THE middle child in my family - two brothers older and a younger brother and sister.  In the central position, we don't tend to be the overachievers of the world - having been born to late in the pecking order for that distinction.  And we aren't the class clowns, either, willing that on to our youngest sibling.  We tend to be reliable and peace makers.  We are the ones that everyone likes, but sometimes we can be forgotten between the bookends of youngest and oldest.  Cue Kermit singing "It's not easy being green."

But there are some really good things about being in the middle.  Our parents have let go of the perfect parenting ideal and not yet given up entirely on holding the monkeys in check.  Our eldest sibling would not have been allowed to feed himself spaghetti.  Our youngest will wear the tomato smile until dinner.  But in the middle, a lunch of spaghetti is much cuter and warrants a picture before the washcloth is applied.

Our eldest sibling puts on a plastic smile when a camera is present.  The youngest turns into a complete goof.  However, when a camera is pointed our direction, we have learned to say "cheese" with great gusto and without prompting.

 Sometimes we have to do things to garner some attention away from the clever eldest and the perpetually pudgy cheeked youngest.  In the middle is the matter-of-fact, I'm-still-here, I'm-adorable, I-don't-have-to-throw-a-temper-tandem-just-to-prove-it, absolutely lovable munchkin.

Thanks, Josiah, for proving my point!  It's a fact: we in the middle are just cute for cuteness' sake! Don't under estimate us!