Any reformed Golden children?

I was raised by a single mother and have 1 older sister. I was always told I was the golden child as my sister would get really harsh and violent punishments for small things and was kicked to the curb a lot of the time , even though she would help my mum with housework and looked after me from a young age even though there is 4 years between us. Without giving a whole life story she would call my sister names like “spotty b*tch” and would never want to agree when people said my sister looked like her. I always noticed this and did not like it. I would defend my sister but also was catty and mean sometimes as a younger sister. I really regret this as although I thought it was normal sister arguments , it would feel like my mum would always defend me. I knew it felt off. I would also get given money and my sister would have to ask if she was struggling. up until the age of 16 (I’m 24 now) I wasn’t as aware of the severity of how differently we were treated. Because of this, my sister rightfully would spend a lot of time at her friend’s house. I would class myself lucky to still have a good relationship with her , and I genuinely love her the most out of everyone and always have.

She developed better sense of self despite the struggles she went through. But she still struggles a lot to speak up went it comes to people treating her badly. I almost envy this.

Me on the other hand, I considered myself close to my mum for a long time as she owned a business and I would work for her. She treated me like shit though sometimes and would tell customers my personallllll business and also say nasty things to me in front of customers. She would also get drunk (oh yeah I forgot to mention she has an alcohol problem) and wake me up at 5am to work for her , sometimes asking me to miss college and if I said no she would scream. Baring in mind when she gets drunk she blasts music at full volume so I would barely get any sleep . I slowly started to resent the fact she had this control over me , but I tried to be there for her . She of course has a lot of drama in her life too , with E.V.E.R.Y.O.N.E! So I would try give her advice from a very young age, but no suprise when it came to my life and asking for advice she is extremely dismissive. I feel with narcissistic people , they like to play psychological warfare on you and your siblings and try make it so they are number one. I’m happy this never worked with me and my sister. So yes being there for her and helping her in drunk moments and overall drama made me the golden child even more. But I hate it. It’s come to a point where it creeps me out . It doesnt feel right at all when she praises me and randomly sends me love hearts.

It also has crossed a line multiple times as she has been known to come into my bed naked when I’m sleeping for “cuddle time “ and also noticed she would come into the bathroom on queue when I had a shower .

I just wondered if anyone else realised that being the golden child is not what it seems and that it ks true psychological abuse . Also any advice to become more self identified and sufficient would be welcome , and also any stories :)

If you got this far thanks for reading and hope you are doing okay

Posted Oct 3, 2025, 5:17 PM UTC

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