Hey I'm a middle child and I am flanked on either side by 2 brothers...As a kid, I think I always lived under my older brother's shadow. In terms of studies, etc, he was smart and I was too, so when I did as well as he did, it just wasn't a big deal, it was almost expected. In the end though, I think this is a good thing, because I never was under the same pressure to set the bar as he was.
As a kid, I felt a lot of the time, my older bro got the attention b/c he was a really good kid and he was the oldest, so everyone adored him and my little bro got the attention b/c he was cute and mischievous. But since I was the only girl, I also got a lot of attention from my parents. I think it might have been harder if my older or younger sib was a sister, because I think there's a bit more competition.
I'm older now, and all these things have become irrelevant. They have shaped my personality, but now I don't feel like my siblings have an effect on my parent's or others' treatment of me. I stand on my own merit now.