The Kuharich sisters — senior Megan, junior Lexi and freshman Kelli — all have different personalities and agree the order in which they were born plays a factor in who they are.
Megan said certain stereotypes are used to classify the oldest, middle and youngest children.
“Youngest is kind of the princess,” she said. “The middle one, I’ve heard and experienced with other families, is the problem child ­— usually the individual will just like to be independent. And the oldest, I guess they get a lot more things since they get it all first. They’re the guinea pig.”
Megan said she is the responsible, motherly type out of the three girls.
“I’m kind of protective,” she said. “I watch after them like my mom watches after us. I like being the first born because you get to experience everything before all the others.”
Lexi said Megan acts most like the care-taker.
“My older sister kind of worries more than I do,” Lexi said. “So growing up with her, I just kind of felt like she’d worry about it, or she’d do it for me.”
The mother of the three girls, Betsy Kuharich, said Megan is the typical first born.
“She’s very organized and a leader,” she said. “I think that’s pretty typical for first borns. She’s more involved and outgoing than Lexi and Kelli.”
Lexi said she likes to have fun rather than take things seriously and believes it is because of her sisters.
“I’m kind of lazier than my sisters in some things, like with schoolwork,” she said. “I just feel like being chill and laid back, and they’ll take care of everything.”
Lexi said if she was not the middle child, her personality would be changed to match her sister’s personalities.
“In my family, we call it middle-child syndrome,” she said. “I’m just the middle child. I’m not the oldest. I’m not the baby. I just feel if I was the oldest, I’d be more responsible and set a good example for my sisters. If I was the baby, I feel like I’d be more of a brat like, ‘Oh, I’m the baby. I get whatever I want.’”
Betsy said Lexi is her own person and is not guided by her sisters.
“Lexi has a very strong personality and is active, but not quite as active as Megan,” she said “She stands her ground very well.”
Kelli said she’s definitely the most shy of the sisters.
“Megan and Lexi are much more out there,” she said. “If we’re all out together, I’ll just kind of stand there, and they’ll go do their own thing.”
Lexi said Kelli is the typical youngest child who gets whatever she wants.
“She likes to get her way a lot, but I think that’s because she’s the baby of the family,” Lexi said. “If she doesn’t get her way, she’ll find a way to get it.”
Kelli said the youngest can be treated like royalty and is given more privileges at a younger age.
“People say that being the youngest is the easiest,” Kelli said. “I got a cell phone earlier than my sisters did, and they always tell me that when I’m their age, my curfew will probably be later than theirs is now.”
Betsy said Kelli can sometimes act like a princess.
“She was the child that was dragged everywhere and had to follow the other girls to all of their activities,” she said. “She likes to copy her sisters a lot, and that makes them mad. She’ll try to copy what they wear, what they do and who they are.”
The sisters said going to the same school has made their relationship stronger.
“It’s made us a lot closer than we were last year,” Kelli said. “They’ll help me with my homework sometimes and help me choose which classes to take.”
Lexi said although their relationship has been strengthened, there is still some tension between her and Megan.
“Me and Megan have a class together, Yearbook, and she’s the editor, so she’s kind of the boss of me, which I don’t really like sometimes,” Lexi said. “We kind of fight, a little bit — not very often — but we do.”
Megan said there have never been full-out brawls between the two during Yearbook, but they have had “creative discussions.” She also said one of the benefits of being in the same school is knowing what’s going on with each other throughout the day.
“When our parents have something to say to one of us, we’re just like, ‘No, don’t say anything because this happened today, so give her a free pass, it’ll be fine,’” Megan said.
Betsy said the girls have grown much closer this year, especially Kelli and Megan.
“It’s a challenge to have three girls all in a row,” she said. “We try to keep track of everything each of them get. It’s a challenge, but they’re all good kids.”