The older ones get to do stuff first, and the younger ones are envious. (“You let her stay up late. Why can’t I?”)
The younger ones get to do stuff at an earlier age, and the older ones are resentful. (“She gets to go out with a boy and she’s only fourteen. You didn’t let me go until I was sixteen.”)
The first one is a novelty. The younger ones are just more of the same. (“How come you took him to a ball game but you never took me?”)
The rules are more relaxed after the first. (“You never let me have one of those!”) (“If I’d done that, I’d have been grounded for life.”)
The first gets the new stuff. (“Do I have to wear his old shirt? I hate it.”)
The youngest has the advantage of changes with the times. (“He gets two dollars? All I got was one.”)
The older ones get fresher parents. The younger ones get tireder parents. There’s something to be said for more and less parental energy.
Too much responsibility falls on the first. (“They expect me to babysit, run errands, set a good example…”). Too much responsibility falls on the last. (“The others are gone and living their own lives, and I’m still stuck here running errands for Mom.”)
Anyone might have to do the tough stuff. (“Why do I have to figure out how to get Dad into an assisted living facility?”)
Let’s hear the chorus—all together now: ”It’s not fair!”