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"1. In fifth grade, you knew what &amp;quot;bases&amp;quot; really were. Well, OK, you had no idea what going to first, second, or third base actually meant, but you knew it sounded cool. Dropping the term &amp;quot;hook up&amp;quot; in elementary school made you the most mature even if you didn&amp;#039;t have breasts yet.  2. You had the best AIM profiles because you knew they should be filled with your BFFL&amp;#039;s initials and lyrics. Your older siblings inspired you with Dawson&amp;#039;s Creek quotes, neon color schemes, and ~*~cLaSsY~*~ italicized Times New Roman. &amp;quot;If you and I aren&amp;#039;t meant to be, then I don&amp;#039;t know anything.&amp;quot; \u2014 Dawson&amp;#039;s Creek  3. You were the fashion icon of your grade. Remember those state T-shirts that the older kids wore? I managed to hide an &amp;quot;Idaho, no U-da-ho&amp;quot; shirt under my sweatshirt and wear it to school. Yes. Coolest seventh grader to ever walk the halls.  4. And you were into Outkast when all your friends were still listening to Big Willie Style. Because your older sibling burned you R-rated CDs out of pity. 5. You are a human lie detector. Being the youngest meant your siblings spoke in code around you. Like when they &amp;quot;came down with a stomach bug&amp;quot; but were actually hungover from too much Busch Light at Jason&amp;#039;s house party. Now not a single soul can bullshit you. 6. You became a professional eavesdropper. This is an important life skill. Training my ears to pick up which guy Jillian liked and what SIMS cheat code she was using to build a mansion from the other room basically trained me to be a reporter. 7. You could break the rules. Or you didn&amp;#039;t even have rules. The curfew battle was fought for you by your older siblings years ago. By the time you got to high school, your parents were too mentally exhausted to bother over the argument and you could hold hands with your eighth grade boyfriend until, like, 1 a.m. if you wanted. 8. You knew that petty drama is bullshit. After watching your sister in a three-way call fight with Ashley and Jessica over Jason&amp;#039;s haircut, you learned to pick your battles. Like, how there&amp;#039;s no use in replying to the girl who&amp;#039;s sending you mean texts, especially cuz she cnt even b mean while spelling properly. 9. You showed up to college with red Solo cups in hand. My sister&amp;#039;s college photo albums were basically my partying guidebook: It&amp;#039;s not a party without red Solo cups, and ABC parties have nothing to do with the alphabet. 10. Surface wounds don&amp;#039;t faze you. There is no such thing as babying the baby. If your oldest sister falls and cuts her knee, it&amp;#039;s a trip to the ER. If you fall and cut your knee? Spit on it, wipe it off, and explain it calmly to your mom later. 11. You always had older boyfriends. At 14, you were comfortable chatting with 19-year-olds. At 21 you preferred the company of 26-year-olds. And your friends were a little scandalized (but mostly impressed) when you went to the junior prom as a freshman.  12. You were the first of your friends to wear a thong. That magical day in the seventh grade where you showed your friends the pink G-string you were wearing (that your sister agreed to buy for you at the mall) will never be forgotten. 13. You got your friends into PG-13 movies. If your sibling wanted to go to the movies but had to babysit you, you got to see whatever they were seeing and bring a friend. You pretty much learned everything you needed to know about breasts and making out from Titanic in the fourth grade. 14. All your friends came to you for makeup tips. The fifth graders were still wearing Lip Smackers but you&amp;#039;d moved on to Bobbi Brown, courtesy of your sister&amp;#039;s makeup bag. Contouring was your bitch by seventh grade. 15. You learned the old &amp;quot;beer before liquor, all the sicker&amp;quot; saying before you even thought about taking a shot. Your older siblings were basically alcohol taste testers for you. And jungle juice is never not dangerous. Follow Danielle on Twitter. "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.cosmopolitan.com/sex-love/a30024/ways-being-the-youngest-sibling-made-you-cool/>