Growing up between an older and a younger sibling takes a special kind of survival skill that only people in the über-exclusive middle child club [1] will ever be able to fully appreciate. There's a unique art to holding court at the centre of it all, and strictly out of necessity, we learn to use that prime position to our advantage. The lessons we learn during that time stay with us our entire lives and show up in distinct ways once we become adults. Here are 10 traits that are dead giveaways that you're a middle child [2].

Related:

Why You Need Your Big Brother, Even as an Adult [3]

1. You get incredibly excited whenever snacks, pizza, or any kind of treat is divided up [4] at a family function, and you end up with the "extra" piece, because your whole life it's either been snatched up by the older one or reserved for the baby of the family.
2. You then immediately offer it to your younger sibling [5], because that's your job. And really, you're not that into the treat anyway, because no one asked you what you wanted when it was time to pick it out.
3. Speaking of your younger sibling, it's also your job to periodically check in on them to ensure they're truly living the very best life possible. They're the one person in the family who you outrank, so it's important to keep them in check and on task.
4. Along those same lines, you're excellent at dodging those similar unwanted questions directed at you from your older sibling, who might be only a few years your senior, but somehow seems light years ahead of you in terms of locking down a great career, a perfect family, a picturesque house, and the ideal healthy lifestyle.
5. When it comes to those major life decisions, though, you feel a lot less pressure [6] than your siblings because you're not expected to be the first one to do anything, and you don't have to live up to the pressure of being anyone's "last chance." So, while you sometimes might feel like the family isn't taking notice of you, it's more like you have the ultimate edge in terms of complete acceptance.
6. You're the one who always ends up planning family get-togethers [7], because you're the bridge between all the family members, and the only one who can actually coordinate everyone's calendars.
7. You've developed the remarkable skill of successfully mediating any argument, between both your siblings and your parents, and sometimes all of them at once. This comes in very handy at all of those family functions you organise.
8. You also have the uncanny ability to remain in the loop about every single thing that happens to anyone in your immediately family. You're in the know [8], and everyone knows it.
9. If something somehow miraculously escapes you, you immediately assume everyone has completely forgot about you . . . again. Now it's time to get to the bottom of who knew what and when, and who didn't include you when the details were made known.
10. Even though you're bothered at being left out at first, you quickly get over it when it rarely happens because in this family, everyone knows you're the centre of it all, even if they don't say it all the time (or ever).