Middle Child's Day inspires Fort Lauderdale man to 'strike'

[Teh One Who Knocks]

By Nicole Brochu, Sun Sentinel Staff writer




Get out your party hats, South Florida. Monday is Middle Child's Day!

You've never heard of such a thing, you say? You're not alone.

Sick and tired of the age-old neglect and obscurity that middle children say they face — even on a holiday set aside to honor them — one Fort Lauderdale man has launched a social media campaign to get them the recognition they deserve.

"Our whole lives, middle children crave attention, but we're always ignored, so it's typical that someone would give us a holiday just so they could ignore it," said long-suffering middle child and former advertising executive Bruce Hopman, fuming with mock indignation.

No picketing or sickouts required for the "strike" Hopman has planned. The founder and sole member of the International Middle Child Union just wants people — particularly middle kids — to post the hashtag, #midkidstrike, on their social media accounts.

While they're at it, he says, it would also be really thoughtful if they change their Facebook profile pictures for the day to show Jan Brady, Malcolm from "Malcolm in the Middle" or another famous middle child like Bill Gates, Madonna or Jennifer Lopez.

"You know, like they do for other really important causes, like Supreme Court rulings," said Hopman, 56.

The International Middle Child Union, headquartered in Hopman's Fort Lauderdale kitchen and sporting the slogan, "We are SO screwed!," is his comical creation. But Middle Child's Day is not.

Still feeling the sting of his "death seat of birth order" as the middle of three kids, Hopman has conducted copious research on the subject. He recently learned of the Aug. 12 designation as Middle Child's Day, though he could find nothing about who started it and why.

"You can barely find it, let alone the origins of it," he said.

No matter. As the self-appointed head of what may be the world's only union representing middle children, Hopman felt it was his duty to raise awareness for the one day they're supposed to get noticed.

Hopman's blog, smackdabtheblog.blogspot.com, will offer online greeting cards that you can link to if you want to remind the forgotten child in your family "that you're kind of thinking of them that day," he said.

One Hallmark-like option features a child in a cape and aviator glasses with the words, "Please notice me!" emblazoned on his shirt. "Sorry we can't be with you on Middle Child's Day," the e-card reads. "We're having dinner with your brother and sister."

The cards are free, and Hopman says he gets no financial benefit from the blog or the Middle Child's Day effort. He does get something out of it, though — a good laugh.

Fellow middle children appear to appreciate his efforts. Since launching his blog a year ago, it has drawn a few thousand readers a month, Hopman said, and his Twitter feed, @MidKidMusings, has more than 4,400 followers.

"As a middle I support this 100%," one Twitter follower, @KatieKrames, said of the Middle Child's Day strike.

A casual observer may say Hopman's fascination with his middle-child status borders on obsession. After all, he also has a Facebook page, Facebook.com/smackdabpage, and recently penned a book, "Smack Dab: A Middle Child's Story," that he's shopping for publication.

But the father of three — yes, he perpetuated his own nightmare, though his middle child is the family's only girl — says it's all in good fun. And it's good therapy.

In true middle-child fashion, Hopman admits his tongue-in-cheek Middle Child's Day crusade, like his blog and Twitter feed, is just a desperate plea for attention. Not just for him, of course, but for middle children everywhere.

"I had to do something to raise awareness for Middle Child's Day," said Hopman, who capitalizes "Middle Child" in his writings as a way to build self-esteem among the lowly set. "If we don't pick ourselves up, who will?"

[deebakes]