If you are the second born child, you will be able to relate to this. If you are the first-born child, pay attention because we second borners(is that a word?), we had it rough.
I couldn’t imagine being a third borner. Did I just make up a word? Oh well, call Webster’s and tell them to add it. My mother would be super upset if she saw the word “borner” in her column.
Forgive me Mother for I am not the wordsmith you were nor ever will be. I should probably grab a dictionary before I start writing. Well, back to second born children like myself.
Hand-me-downs were the second child’s future. Cribs, blankets, toys, cars—we’re getting the leftovers. Now, I had an older brother, so I don’t know anything about having a sibling of the different gender. I’m sure my wife Michelle wasn’t wearing her brother’s clothes, but I could be wrong.
I’m not a parent, but I know a few and when they have their first kid they are so protective. They won’t let the kid out of their sight.
The second one comes along and the parents are like “whatever he/she wants to do is cool, we don’t care.”
The second kid does get away with murder but still has to wear a six-year-old pair of pants and a shirt that is super outdated. In 1996, I was wearing a 1991 Chicago Bulls championship shirt.
Nowadays it’s called vintage or a throwback, but back then it was straight up old.
“Get a new shirt, kid!” I used to pray my brothers British Knights light up shoes didn’t lose their lights, because I knew in a couple years, those shoes would be mine.
That’s a little white lie but you get the point. I remember one Christmas, I opened all of my gifts from Santa and was miserable because, if you know me, I was never happy(sorry mom and dad).
My brother had one more gift. It was in a big box wrapped in blue wrapping paper. I was a three years old sitting on our brown couch with the Yule Log playing on repeat on the TV hoping it was underwear or socks. No kid under 16 wanted underwear or socks. I will happily take them today!!
It was just the opposite. The next three minutes of my thre- year-old life were filled with my brother screaming “Nintendo” at the top of his lungs. He must have said it like 75 times. I was not happy and was thinking “dude, we get it. You got a stupid Nintendo and I’m stuck with the hand-me-down Atari.”
My mom was recording this entire thing on a huge black camcorder. Remember the old camcorders? They were stored in a big metal type suit case and the thing was about 30 pounds. You would put it on your shoulder like you were about to shoot off a missile.
My buddies and I used that thing a ton in our later years. Getting carried away again, she videotaped the whole thing and got my response to my brothers dream gift of a Nintendo.
I was caught on camera selfishly saying “I want another present.” At that moment, I knew I had to wait until Super Nintendo came out so I could get the Nintendo. I wish I still had that VHS tape, but I accidentally taped over it with an episode of Monday Night Raw. Oops! I mean it was 1999 and it was the Attitude Era of wrestling and Stone Cold Steve Austin was probably about to wrestle The Rock. So worth it!
Looking back on my childhood, being the second kid wasn’t so bad. My brother had already gotten in trouble for stuff and took the brunt of it so when I did it, it was normal activity. I did follow in my brothers footsteps when it came to schools and sports. Probably because I had to wait for him to get rid of the shoes he was wearing so I could finally wear them. Being the second kid isn’t so bad, it’s all about how you look at it. I still wish I got the Nintendo first!
Donnie Black was born and grew up in Ewing Township. He currently works at radio station XTU in Philadelphia as a producer, on air personality and promotions director.
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