Being the eldest child in the family is a really big responsibility, especially if you have a big family. In the Third World Countries or poor families, giving the responsibilities to the eldest child is a norm. As the child reaches a certain age level that their parents think are old enough, they will be given the task to do some chores around the house and even taking care or looking after the other younger children.
This type of situations usually happens if the parents are too busy with their works or chores and they can't afford to pay for a nanny to take care of their children. The eldest child will get matured even faster than the other chlidren when doing chores and taking care of their siblings just like an adult would be.
I am the eldest of six children in my family, but I was fortunate enough that I have my younger sister to help me. She is a year younger than me but she is bigger and taller, even strangers thought she is older than me. We used to have a nanny, but as we reached the age of 11 and 10, our parents passed the responsibility to us.
Taking care of our four other siblings includes cooking for their meals especially lunch when we all came back from school. Our works will be easier if there are breakfast leftovers, we will feed them first and forced them to take a nap before we started doing the other chores around the house.
I never blamed my parents for giving us such responsibilities during our tender age, it is actually a blessing in disguise. My relationship with my other siblings are much more closer, and doing chores around the house makes me a more responsible person. I still enjoy doing houseworks, and cooking became my favourite hobby.
How about you guys? How was your childhood days? Did you guys have the same experience like me? I would love to hear your stories, please leave a comment.