Being the last child in a family comes with its perks and frustrations. And it also comes with a lot of condescending statements from people who try to define the life of the last child even though they have no idea how it is.
Here are some of the things every last born in the family has heard more times than they can count and they are sick of hearing:
People believing that everything you own are hand-me-downs:
From your baby crib to your last phone and even your university admission
Being compared to older siblings if you attend the same school:
You’re likely to hear that they were smarter and better behaved than you. A teacher would surely say, “Why can’t you be more like your sibling?’
Everyone calling you ‘smallie’:
Even when you turn 70 and have grandkids, your older relations will always regard you as the baby of the house.
When people tell you that you have no problems because your older siblings solve them before they occur:
The belief that you’re always needy and subservient to your siblings, financially, is so inherent in Nigeria it’s a wonder that last borns are yet to hold a mass protest against it.
Being told that your opinion doesn’t count or you don’t know what you’re saying because you’re the last born:
This usually happens in families where there’s a huge age gap between siblings. Everyone feels they know more about your life than you because they’ve lived longer.
Being told that you are mummy’s pet and daddy’s padi:
And then you’re considered weak and soft because of this.
“Let your mummy give birth to another baby now, are you not tired of being a last born?”
Every last child heard this statement at least once in their life when they were a kid.
The endless memes that declare you as an amebo that can be bribed to disclose any secret:
Because you have nothing better to do with your life than to be a tattletale and all you really care about is becoming a monitoring spirit.
Everybody regards whatever you do as “last born syndrome.”
This is the ‘get out of jail free’ card that society has given to you. It excuses all your wrongdoings in their eyes.
