While the rest of the world is busy celebrating birthdays, Mother’s Day, Father’s Day and just about every other occasion imaginable, one annual holiday continues to fly spectacularly under the radar.

Fittingly, that’s exactly the point.

August 12 is National Middle Child Day, and Bruce Hopman, founder of the International Middle Child Union, has spent more than a decade fighting for the rights, recognition and, perhaps most importantly, the grievances of middle children everywhere.

“It was ironic,” Hopman said. “They gave us a holiday so that no one would pay attention to it.”

Naturally, he responded the only logical way possible: by creating a worldwide union.

What began as research for an unpublished memoir about growing up as a middle child snowballed into a satirical movement complete with a union, annual strike, State of the Middle Child Union addresses, greeting cards, gift guides and a surprisingly passionate following.

The mission? Give middle children the attention they insist they never received.

“Our operating budget is zero,” Hopman joked.

The union’s newest campaign, the First Annual Middle Child Challenge, invites people to submit their most tragic, hilarious and painfully relatable middle-child stories ahead of August 12.

Forgotten birthdays? Braces that were given to other siblings? The list goes on and on.

Think you have the most traumatic, hilarious, or unforgettable middle child story? Here’s your chance to share it. To enter the Middle Child Challenge, simply leave a comment on the official challenge blog, reply on X (@midkidunion), email your story to middlechildchallenge@gmail.com, leave a voicemail at 971-2MIDDLE (971-264-3353), or send a message through the International Middle Child Union’s Facebook page. For updates on the challenge and future middle child content, follow @midkidunion on X, Instagram, and Threads, or like the organization on Facebook.

Hopman recalls riding across the country in the front middle seat of his parents’ car during a family road trip. At first, he thought he was the favorite child because he got the coveted front-row seat.

Then reality hit.

“Everybody else was seatbelted in,” he laughed. “I was the only one who wasn’t. If anything happened, I was going to be the first one through the windshield.”

He also notes that his own birth announcement somehow managed to make someone else the star.

“My birth announcement read, ‘Michael David’s new brother is here,'” he said. “My brother got top billing on my birth announcement.”

Although the organization is built on satire, Hopman says there is legitimate research surrounding birth order, even if scientists don’t always agree on its significance.

Some studies suggest middle children often become mediators, peacemakers and entertainers because they spend much of childhood negotiating between older and younger siblings.

“We want people to like us,” Hopman said. “We want to make people laugh.”

He also enjoys busting a few myths along the way, including the long-held claim that most U.S. presidents were firstborn children.

“If you actually go back and look at birth order,” he said, “a majority of U.S. presidents were middle children.”

Perhaps his biggest public service announcement?

Many people don’t even realize they’re middle children.

“In a family of five,” Hopman explained, “there’s only one firstborn and one last born. Everybody else is a middle child.”

As for the grand prize in this year’s challenge, don’t expect a luxury vacation.

Instead, participants compete for something arguably more meaningful to a lifelong middle child: validation.

“To a middle child,” Hopman joked, “the reward would be knowing you had it the worst.”

It’s the rare competition where losing your childhood might actually make you a winner.

Hopman hopes radio stations, media outlets and communities will join in by sharing submissions and celebrating the wonderfully overlooked holiday.

Because if misery truly loves company, perhaps middle children have finally found theirs.

After all, as Hopman puts it, “Let’s not suffer in silence. Let’s suffer together.”

At Nashville Fit, we wanted to get in on the middle-child-energy fun! Enter on our Instagram comments here and share your crazy, traumatic middle child stories! Best one wins a facial from Face Foundrié’s newest location in Belle Meade. Entries close on August 12.