Reflections of an Oldest Child

There are a few choice blessings afforded to those of us privileged enough to be the oldest in the family. Granted, some are definitely blessings in disguise - having stricter curfews and "harsher" rules. But others are pretty nice perks - getting undivided Mom & Dad time for years, building the parent-child friendship first, generally being first at just about everything (driving, college, etc.). Also, if you're LDS and your parents are cool enough to have eternal callings in the youth program, you get some more undivided parent time, not to mention daddy daughter dances. As you get older, there is the added bonus of getting to chapperone your younger siblings' dances.

Yes, it's true. I am old enough to do that - the privilege is afforded to anyone over the age of 21. Now, as much as I complained and poked fun (because truly the music hasn't changed in the almost 10 years since I first started coming; but the stake "mixer intervention" ratio has drastically increased!) it was pretty entertaining!

I was also made aware of how cool it really was to have my dad at stake dances. As I watched him with my sister tonight, swooping in at the exact right moment, I wondered how many times he did that for me.

Yep, it's true. I have the coolest dad ever. And when I come home, I still get daddy-daughter dance privileges. How's that for oldest child privileges?