My mother had two children before me, and my father did as well. So I’m the only one who grew up with both my parents, and what’s the term for that...?
Latecomer.
When I was little, I often felt a bit jealous when I heard about things the others had done without me. My whole family went to New York at a time when I wasn’t born yet, and when they talk about it, I still feel like, ’Oh, I wish I could have been there too.’
For many years, I really wanted a younger sister because I was the only one who didn’t have one. But later on, I’ve come to see how much cooler it actually is to be the youngest.
There are many perks to being a latecomer. I get that only-child feeling of living alone at home with Mom and Dad, but at the same time, I also experienced living with my siblings when I was younger. And even though my siblings have moved out, I still enjoy the feeling that they are around.
Since I’m the youngest, I’ve received much more attention. They are all children of divorced parents, whereas I have both my parents in the same house. I’m a bit more spoiled, and the others think so too. I’ve always been told that. They often say there were things my dad did with me that he didn’t do with the others when they were little. Things like going on trips somewhere.
And I also got a lot of attention from my siblings when I was small. It was a pretty big deal when I was born, and the others played with me and rode me around the yard on a bike and stuff like that. So in that way, I’ve received a lot of attention from all my siblings, along with probably the most from our parents.
»We have very different styles«
The best part is probably that I can visit them in Copenhagen. Quite a few people my age take the train by themselves, and just at the end of last year, I started taking the train by myself too. Then I can go into the city and hang out with them, and they know a lot more things than I do, and I can ask them for advice. And they have the answers, so I don’t always have to ask my parents about everything.
And if I’m unsure about something, my siblings have experienced it.
All my siblings are very different, so I use them for different things. One of my sisters is very creative, and my brother is just really good at cooking. I’ve also been to a festival with one of them.
But one of the best things is that I can ask them about clothes. Throughout my childhood, I wore everything from my brother’s shorts to my sister’s old bikini. And even though we have quite different styles today – since I wear a lot of pink and nude colors, and some of my siblings wear more black – I often get to borrow their clothes.
And if I’m lucky, they even give me some of it.
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