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6th Child Syndrome

6th Child Syndrome

Being a middle child can be tough enough. What if you were in a family with nine kids?

by: Tata Mapa

I hate chicken drumsticks. It stems from deep in my childhood when a whole chicken would be set on the table. One leg was reserved for my dad. And my eldest sister always insisted she get the other. To ward off a potential world war, eight of us kids developed a taste for the other parts. Take a peek into our refrigerator today, ad you'll find dozes of leftover morsels universally known as "the last piece". From chocolate cake to potato wedges, these will remain untouched until it is time to throw them out. All because no one wants to be accused of being the one who "gobbled it up". I'd never really thought of these habits as odd until a few years ago. That's when I realized that other families didn't subscribe to our unspoken mealtime survivor code: avoid danger, avoid blame, and above all, adjust to others.

These are just two of the many famous stories about life with my family. Of course, we'd have our more pang-Hallmark ones like when we'd play the Von Trapp children from the Sound of Music or when we'd bound down the stairs to welcome our dad as our mom handed him a warm face towel. A classmate was so aliw with our sheer number that he would recite our names as a memory game: Lourdes, Dindin, Misel, Tisa, Nini, Tata, Angela, Joey, Nicky, plus our parents, Chona and Cidito. No matter how many times he practiced, he would miss out on someone or get the order wrong - which shouldn't come as a shock considering that mom never seemed to get our names right, either. Many times I've been called "Dindin - I mean Misel - ah Joey - I mean Tata." Once she even frantically called my sister by our driver's name, Paning. At times I'd shrug it off as a fact of life and as a consequence of my mom's poor memory. Other times, it would irritate me to no end. Probably because it pointed to a deeper thing I was sorting through - the feeling of being unimportant, passed-over, and lost in the shuffle.

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1. nadinecamille_candy says:
Haha..buti na lang mag-isa lang ako..haha..joke!
July 30, 2008 at 10:13 pm
2. jernilyn grace says:
it's a nice life experience cause it really gives lesson...well,i just want to share this thought and try to ponder it..no matter who you are the best hiding place in tough times is in God's loving arms..He can be the best person that could comfort you at all times..when you feel that you are all alone and seems that no one gives you any attention why not talk to God cause He will never turn His back...
July 31, 2008 at 11:14 am
3. nacille says:
actually in my mother side they also 9 siblings and she's the eldest that didn't pay much more attention to her but she try herself to become successful in spite they are big family
August 1, 2008 at 9:13 am
4. kate says:
that was a great story of life..you know what.. I'm the youngest but when I'm at home my parents treat me as the eldest..I only have one sister..but I never felt that she became a good sis to me..
August 1, 2008 at 5:01 pm
5. geeanne09 says:
intEresting one..
August 1, 2008 at 6:56 pm
6. darthlove says:
ka2touch nmn ung story..
August 2, 2008 at 4:26 pm
7. xiao mai says:
a good feature story!!haha!!
August 3, 2008 at 7:57 pm
8. anivasam says:
we share the same story dear.. we are also 9 in the family.. but i have to admit, it also brings a lot of fun..
August 4, 2008 at 8:45 pm
9. elyrap says:
that was such an inspirational story, i hope that one day I'll be like you,i hope my family would later realize that i exist here, that they won't only see the negatives about me, or how great my sisters are compare to me..i hope so,
August 6, 2008 at 2:02 pm
10. yOyi says:
inspiring article..:) there's a personality growth in the story., tlagang teen-age story bcoz i know a lot of friends and even cousins who are also encountering such situation...pero great,girl! u made it a happy ending..:)gB!
August 29, 2008 at 6:31 pm
11. kendi_lips says:
good article.. im the youngest
October 5, 2008 at 7:16 am
12. kendi_lips says:
its great having a big number of family though..
October 5, 2008 at 7:16 am
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