Responsibility

I think being the eldest girl in a family you are given more responsibility than any of the other siblings. At least this is the case in my family. I have always had more responsibility than my older brother. I'm my mom's right hand almost all of the time. She counts on me for helping out with a lot of things. Sometimes having so much responsibility sucks but after thinking of everything that my parents have done for me, I realize I just need to suck it up and do it.

Some of the responsibilities I have as the eldest girl are to watch the kids. When my mom leaves to go for a meeting or a doctors appointment, she leaves the rest of the kids with me. It is my responsibility to watch and make sure they are staying safe. When they go outside, even if I don't go out there with them. I will check on them a lot during the time they are out. It will be my butt on the line if anything should happen to them. Plus, I don't know what I would do with myself if something actually did. Another thing I have to do if my mom is gone is to cook them something to eat. Whether it's chicken nuggets for Jan or mac/cheese for the rest of the kids.

Another one of my responsibilities is driving. I am asked so many times to go pick of this or that child from school. When I don't have soccer I am more than likely going to pick my brother up from school to help my mom out. She has enough on her plate than having to go out when I'm right there and can get him easily. If it's not picking him up then it's picking up the other two girls from their school. It's not just school that I have to do, I also take them to a lot of their sporting events. On multiple occasions I have had to take Jeff and his friend to Sports Quest for their soccer practice. Which honestly I don't mind because I love sports, so it's not a big deal having to sit and watch their practice. I don't know how some people were allowed to get a license. They are freaking crazy drivers. Whenever I have my siblings or anyone for that matter in the car with me, I'm extra careful when driving. It's my responsibility to get them from point A to B in the same condition I picked them up in.

Having a big family requires team work to get stuff done. I'm not going to sit here and say I never complain about all of the stuff I have to do. That would be the biggest lie ever. In a big family you realize that it's not all about YOU, you can't be selfish. You have to help out your family to get stuff done. As I have gotten older, I have realized that by having so many responsibilities that it has helped me in the long run.