The inherent purpose of the middle child.

I have another reader to thank for today’s post on the middle child. We seem to share the desire to care for our parents in their elderly years. Please allow me to preface this tongue and cheek post by stating that I will be honored to care for my parents someday, as they have so beautifully, graciously and generously cared for me (and still are). Having gotten that out of the way, let me say that the middle child is the backup plan in the family. I will explain what I mean by that.

There seems to be an inherent purpose, or survival instinct among propagating parents to have three or more children. This strategic planning provides long term care protection in the event of worst-case scenarios. The oldest child can often be a controlling, Type-A personality, who, if left to his or her own devices might end up incapacitated with hypertension from a fast, stress-filled lifestyle. Therefore parents may have to count the oldest child out of the potential care giver role. Next, you have the youngest child. Many parents refer to the baby of the family as the wild child, free spirit, or blaze-your-own-trail type. In this worst-case scenario, the youngest may have joined a commune in the desert or moved to Botswana to teach orphans to read. So perhaps parents shouldn’t rely on the baby of the family. The only logical solution is to have at least three children to produce a middle child, a.k.a., the backup kid.

The middle child is the safe bet, as he/she is usually the easy going type. They are hard-working but not too serious or too wild. Like the story of Goldilock’s and the Three Bears, the appropriate choice for future caregiver is the middle child, who is just right. In my family, my parents created a backup for the backup by having four children. They like to plan ahead and have successfully covered all their bases. Truth be told, they will probably be sorry one day for having so many of us, as we will all want to be there for them in every way they need and may possibly drive them crazy with all the attention. So if you are a parent and planning for your long term care, be sure to have your backup kid in position just in case.

Thank you for reading and be well.

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