A younger sibling can inherit rules built around somebody else’s mistakes.

Rules in a family are usually written in response to something, and the something is rarely the child now living under them. A curfew set after an older brother came home late follows the younger one who never did. From inside, that feels like being distrusted for a crime you did not commit, and the reason offered is almost never the real history. Parents forget which rules were principles and which were repairs.

If you inherited them, it is fair to ask what a rule was originally for. If you are the one setting them, check occasionally whether you are still guarding against a past that has already ended.