Surviving with younger siblings is difficult, especially if you are the oldest sibling. My parents like to go as far as to call me a third parent when I did not sign up for that when I was born. As the oldest child of my family, I know how rough it is to deal with these gremlins. 

The biggest part of dealing with younger siblings not fighting back. Fighting back gives you a big chance of getting in trouble with the family. When my sibling starts hitting me and I hit back, I immediately get into trouble when the argument was not my fault. Do not think younger siblings won’t come at you with your back turned because they will. Be prepared for this and do not just turn around and pop them. 

The next thing is to never underestimate their strength. Younger siblings are mean. One time my little sister threw a snow globe at my head. Younger siblings say hurtful things also. They are ruthless and will hurt your feelings.  

Always do what your parents say, never be disrespectful or have an attitude. Even if your younger sibling has an attitude and gets away with it, the oldest sibling will not get away with it because they are supposed to be the example for their younger siblings. I have learned to always be respectful because I will not get away with it the same way my younger siblings could get away with it. 

Instead of fighting with your siblings, tell your parents. My parents always say if my sibling bothers me to tell them instead of retaliating.  Then if your parents do not do anything about it, just threaten to take something away from your siblings. I like to take my sister’s iPad away when she is being disrespectful to me. It does not always teach her, but sometimes it does and she hates getting her iPad taken away. So even though it sounds bad,  just take away something they enjoy and they will start acting nicer to you. 

Being the oldest may seem bad sometimes, but in general, your siblings can end up being some of your best friends even if you fight with them so having compassion for them when they are acting hateful is also important. 

Also, have some compassion for your parents even if it feels like they treat you worse than your siblings because they are trying just as hard as you to deal with those demons.