Bullshit! My parents punished me MORE and assigned more chores because "your brother will just say no" Um, sorry? I'm nicer than he is, so dump on me?

Childhood rage is re-emerging!

I've said for years that the woman that raised me is NOT the woman that raised my little brother. And now I have scientific proof. Thanks, Jezebel!

*does the flaily arms of exasperated agreement*

I was the oldest and I am the *only child* who got hit. Neither one of my sisters have any recollection of being spanked, popped, or swatted, much less (yikes) some of the other physically abusive shit my dad inflicted on me. (I love the guy, but he was not a father of the year type of Navy LtCdr.) UNFAIR.

I think they just give up and say "Fuck it" when it comes to they youngest.

I can still scientifically hate on them and their spoiled brat of a youngest child.

So now explain why my mother still funds my 20 something younger sister's lavish lifestyle!

Oh wait, that's just bad parenting.

I know, I'm bitter, but it hurts to not be the favorite.

I'm an only child but I have certainly observed this in other families. Especially those with 2-3 kids. But, as AthertonMerriweather said, 4 or more, I think they just say "fuck it."

Once again, Science ftw. I got so much more shit from my parents growing up than my brother did. Still do.

only child ftw!

Ha. You don't need math to figure out that parents are exhausted by the time the last one is born and just tired of caring as much they do about the older kids.

My mom mostly only punished when we did badly in school. Therefore, my older sister got a whole lot less punishment then I did. But my sister would probably see it differently.

This cuts both ways though, my older sister got the "spare the rod" side of my mom, then rebelled against her. Big sis's rebellion paved the way for me to host many underage drinking parties.

My sister has always said this, I will be forwarding this to her...

Of course my parents were easier on me! Because I was easier on them!

I took my dose of "act right" daily. My older sis, on the other hand, had no clue what this pill looked like.

I heard the jury was still out on science.

My brother got away with murder and STILL DOES! He's about to graduate and doesn't have a job lined up and my parents are all, "Well, he's a free spirit. A wandering soul. He needs time to find his path."

When I graduated without a job lined up, my parents were all, "What is wrong with you? We didn't spend [dollar amount that is LESS than my brother's education] so you could graduate at work at STARBUCKS!"

@♥ dosido ☮:
Thats really true actually...

@AthertonMerriweather: My uncle is the baby and, y'know, like, 40, and STILL complains about the camping trip when my grandparents forgot to bring a poncho for him and had to put him in a plastic bag to protect him from the rain.

RAWR! I'm the oldest, got away with nothing, and had to work my ass off to stay in my parent's good graces. My lazy ass brother can do whatever he wants because he's the "baby." A baby he is not, but a bummy jobless pothead liar he is.
Its plain to see that he and I do not get along.

Hmm. My parents were LESS strict with me than with my younger sister.

I disprove the formula. What do I win?

My lil bro literally DOES NOT HAVE TO GET OFF THE COUCH when he wants a drink of water. He just shouts, "I'm thirsty!"

Meanwhile, both my sis (younger than me, older than bro) and I had jobs, etc, when we were his age. ARRRRRGH!

I graduated college with $20,000 in student loans, which I agreed to take on so that I would fully appreciate the value of my education. My parents and I never discussed me applying for cheaper schools, their projected contribution, whatever. I thought this was entirely reasonable until...

My sister chose a cheaper school (read: had bad grades and didn't get a scholarship to other ones) and my parents decided to pay her tuition in full and set aside a "nest egg" for her to claim upon graduation. WTF.

I still hate them!!!! My mother was a strict-ass bitch with me and my 17 year old brother has his girlfriend sleep over, was arrested for pot possession and got scarcely more than a slap on the wrist... I swear the list goes on and on. My mom found Jaegermeister and what she called "a lot of VERY DIRTY porn" in the basement and I don't even think she mentioned it!

argh.

I am so forwarding this to my parents. I support AthertonMerriweather's "fuck it" theory, b/c I was the stupidly compliant firstborn with the early bedtime (didn't actually see The Simpsons until late middle school) and the high grades and my little brother was the rebellious difficult one and guess, just guess, who got the shiny new sports car by just whining about it long enough.

There's also gender to be considered. My parents are way more lax on my bro than me, but I am the much easier child to raise (one of my mom's friends even told me that my mom was lucky that I was the studious, obedient daughter).
p.s. no such thing as a 'free spirit' in this house.

I'm the oldest of three, and definitely bore the brunt of criticism, responsibility, punishment, etc. I practically *raised* my brother and sister for a while, and did most of the cooking and cleaning, despite my mom telling me that I "never lifted a finger." What really burned my ass was my 10:30 curfew until I was 18, though my bro and sis have never really had curfews.

I moved out at 18 and have been on my own financially ever since, and paid my way through college with student loans and work. My brother? Parents pay at least a couple thou a year toward his tuition, pay for books, etc. My mom just cosigned on a truck for him, even though he just bought a house and works part-time at Wal-Mart.

I could go on for days...Bitter? Me?

@ShirtNinjaOni: Less time in therapy?

I often remind my brother how lucky he is that I broke my parents in for him. Not that I was trouble - I was a goody-two-shoes until college (where I made up for lost time) - but he got to do everything at a younger age than I did, because my parents realized they were too strict with me.

@rocknrollunicorn: But one thing to consider is how fucking dumb the youngest wind up due to this. I mean certainly I smoked pot and had sex in high school, yet I never got arrested or caught because I was sneaky as hell. My dumbass brother is an utter failure at hiding anything. In the end, I still think I win.

Just because you add formulas and equations doesn't make this "finding" any less of a "DUH!" moment.

@AthertonMerriweather:

Total agreement. I'm a case in point - oldest of four, parents were very strict with me.

They gradually got more and more relaxed until you get to the youngest who is a completely spoiled brat.

Unsurprisingly she married another 'youngest child and spoiled brat' too.

@rocknrollunicorn: My younger brother leaves his pipe out or in the garage, and has a child at 17. So yeah, I feel you on this one.

Scrolling through comments, and OMG what is it about older sisters and lazy little brothers??

I'd laugh if I wasnt afraid I'd choke on bitterness.

At least my dad knows that he was WAAAAAAYY harder on me than my younger brothers. He used to tell them so too....not that they cared. The funny thing is, I was the one who got spanked with a belt, but my brother (the one just younger than me) is the one who always complains about being beaten as a child. I think he got spanked twice...& he certainly didn't get the belt like I did. The youngest never got spanked at all.

Not that I condone hitting you kids with a belt....but I don't think a spanking now and then is neccessarily a bad thing.

@rocknrollunicorn: Or, if it's my parents, the brother can stay out all night drinking and talk about it the next morning, and they'll barely bat an eye.

But yes, he would be far too stupid to hide it. In fact...I'm not sure anything has ever been hidden, since Mom still cleaned his room up until this year (he's 21).

My mom still tells me I'm her FAVORITE daughter. I'm an only child.

This phenomenon is no shock to me. My mother told me herself that by the time she had my younger brothers, my parents were older, fatter, lazier, and just more laid back. I had turned out okay so they were all "meh" when it came to discipling my younger brothers.

Also, can I just say, on behalf of the youngest children, we're not all spoiled brats! I got away with more going out and getting drunk than my sister did, but that doesn't mean that I'm totally dependent on them, no more than my sister was at my age. So nur.

I'm right! I'm right, I'm right, I'm right!

I have always had a rocky relantionship with my mom. Nothing big has ever happened, but we just do not get along. We used to get in fights and afterwards to punish me she would me extra-nice to my sister. Also, any time I got mad at my youger sister, my mom would say that I was taking out my anger towards her at my younger sis. We spent most of my early childhood up to when I was about 13 in huge screaming fights, which surprisingly cooled down when I was a teenager. Now that we have a slightly better relantionship she refuses to say that she treated me worse. Even my little sister agrees with me. I should show her this article.

OMG! I am the oldest of FOUR! And I was chained to the bed until I left the house at nineteen. Not for college, but to live on my own, to get away from such a strict home.

I had a curfew of ten pm when I was seventeen. Youngest sister...they didn't care if she ever came home.

Not fair. Not fair at all.

*would be, not would me. That does not make any sense.

@and Begorrah: my dad always tells me I'm his "favourite number three" being the third daughter of three.

This is sooo true. I witnessed it as the youngest girl with two older brothers. Both my ex and current bf have younger sisters that got away with murder too. I always thought it was because parents just got more weary with age and with each passing child so they eased up.

And my brother? MY BROTHER???? Is THIRTY-TWO and has never lived on his own. NEVER. And they've paid for college for him muliple times -- he's never graduated.

Me, I was pulled out of school after one year because I didn't appreciate it.

Oh, the therapy must continue.

@ceejeemcbeegee:

LOL....you better believe it. Us younger ones, just watched the older ones mistakes and learned from them.

Um, I don't know how much they paid for this study, but I would have gladly told them this for half.

Let's see, my little brother gets his rent paid, spending money, my parent's credit card, a car, and lots of clothes.

Hmmmm...when I was in college, I had to buy my clothes at a thriftstore. Thank god that was cool in the 90s.

I love it when science backs me up. My parents actually told me once that they didn't hit my younger sisters because "we found out it didn't work after trying it on you."

And THAT is why THE PARENTS PAY FOR THERAPY. You break it, you buy it.

yet another study from the Institute of the Very Very Obvious. well done, researchers!

*golf claps*

far too many childhood (and recent) incidents come to mind that directly support this finding.

both younger brothers have a) been expelled from multiple schools multiple times b)jailed multiple times C) impregnated multiple girls d)been caught with multiple drugs. but under NO CIRCUMSTANCES could i have a boy, even just a friend, upstairs in my room. and i was almost pulled out of college for getting a C+ average one semester.

then again, the fact that my parents were hardest on me is likely the very reason i'm the only one they can actually be proud of now.

@meanmommy: Word. I figured out how to hide my dirty laundry.

My littlest brother (of 4) gets away with whatever he wants. I don't know if my parents are just too over parenting to care, realize the rest of us turned out dandy, or simply gave up, but if he doesn't want to go to school, he won't. He's allowed to have his gf in his room (she even has a housekey). He gets to go to bars with us.

The rest of us are sorta like WTF?!, but at the same time are over it too.

BULLshit. My older brother always makes fun of me because he gets away with everything and I get the hard time. It's because I was clearly the smarter one when I was born, and he's a meat head.