Did you ever get the "my younger sibling has it so much easier than I had it?". I know I did. I remember having a 7:30 bedtime, never being allowed to eat anything with sugar in it, having to stand in the corner for "time out", and not having cable! Yes, I know that sounds terrible, but it was drastically different than my younger brothers, who consistently stayed up past 10pm as young children, ate whatever they wanted, and were given much more leeway with parental restrictions. The study, “Games Parents and Adolescents Play,” by Duke University, Johns Hopkins University and the University of Maryland show that there actually is a difference between the older and younger siblings in the way they get treated (http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/04/080416152245.htm). The study also shows that parents are much more likely to financially assist younger children vs. older children in times of distress, and a mathematical model for severness of punishment of the older children vs. the young ones. One of the main reasons behind this disparity is parents wanting to set precedents of behavior for the younger children by following through with punishments for the older children. I asked my Mom about this and she said she was just more tired by the 3rd and 4th children and didn't have the energy to deal with it like she used to be able to! Can you believe it? I knew this all along!
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