Youngest Child Syndrome

You've never heard of the Youngest Child Syndrome? Well apparently I have it. I never thought that I fit into the mold of the youngest child: spoiled, obnoxious, need to be center of attention, coddled by parents, getting away with murder...you see where this is heading don't you?

Well, the other day as I was telling my friend yet another one of my harebrained ideas of what I want to do with my life, she laughed. She followed up that laugh with "Don't take this the wrong way, but you are soooo the youngest child. My youngest sister always comes up with these elaborate ideas of what she's going to do and we just smile and nod because we all know she will never follow through with them."

That comment got me thinking about the last few months and my quest to find a job that I really love. For those of you who I haven't talked your ears off about this quest, here is just a sample of the many different ideas of what I want to do:

1. Tour guide (that's right - be the person on the double-decker buses taking people around fun cities like NYC, London, Paris, etc.)
2. Hair dresser (this idea was stopped when I looked at how much the really good beauty schools cost)
3. High school math teacher
4. High school biology teacher
5. Community college teacher (accounting)
6. Nanny
7. Bum (this one is still up on the table)
8. Start a business with my brother (ok - this was something HE suggested and it's still on the table as well)

As you can see...I'm starting to fit nicely into the youngest child mold. So let's look at the other "symptoms":

1. Spoiled: my siblings would probably all say yes. I say kind of. I've never really had to go without...but I have paid for much of what I have (and since moving to NYC I've paid for it ALL)
2. Obnoxious: NO WAY!!! Everyone totally loves me! Although, when I was younger I admit I probably drove my brothers and sisters CRAZY! So fine...I'm obnoxious.
3. Center of attention: that depends on the setting. In my family I usually am pretty quiet. I've always let my older sister do the talking for me because I'm actually quite shy (until you get to know me of course - then we get back to the obnoxious trait above). Around friends I'm more outgoing, funny, and the center of attention (unless someone else is there who likes to speak over me)
4. Coddled: my mom did a pretty good job of pampering all her children.
5. Getting away with murder: ummm...I definitely have to say yes to this one. I learned at a young age how to get adults to eat out of the palm of my hand and to get away with anything. I have to say - this has turned out to be a very important trait in life :)

So there you have it. I have Youngest Child Syndrome. And I can tell you this much: even if there was a cure for YCD, I don't care. I like this "disease".