Thursday, March 23, 2017

Facts about being an Older Sibling

As I was writing this post I struggled to find an appropriate title. Stages of having a lot of siblings? Being an older sibling? I didn't expect to have so much material. Once I starting thinking about it I kept coming up with more! I was going to title this 10 things about having younger siblings, or some catchy, numbered title. I finally decided on Facts about being an Older Sibling.





I'm the second oldest and I have four younger brothers. I (Obviously) grew up in a big family, and if anything, I prefer it and I feel sorry for people who didn't. There's so much that happens with this many people day to day.

My younger brother who is closest in age to me, is probably the brother I am closest to. The two of us and our older brother had several years of growing up when it was just the three of us. There's a little back story for you to kinda explain the bizarre facts I've put together!


There are many positive things about who I am and things about me thanks to having younger siblings.



Disney appreciation
A lot of people say they have an inner child, to explain why the still love Disney or typically kid things. I don't have to use that as an excuse. I love Disney and Pixar movies! I grew up with a generation of Disney, but because I had little brothers over a long stretch of time, I saw their generation and even the current generation of Disney. My friends think certain movies are to young for them. Or they would be embarrassed to be seen going to any animated movie. Where as I love it! :D

Strong personality
One thing is for sure, if you grow up with five brothers you're going to learn how to take care of yourself. Whether it's physically, or sarcastically.  Needless to say I can do both. ;) They used to say I was a ninja. I haven't needed to use my "ninja skills" on them in a long, long time. I'm still a very sarcastic person though.
I don't just do whatever people tell me to. I have a mind of my own, opinions, and independence thanks to the way I was raised and my brothers. I will fight you, and if you're my friend I will fight for you.
Whenever anyone would meet my brothers and me, they would say something like, "Oh, I bet you can beat them all up!" (I never really understood that. But I totally could! Lol)

Having someone to talk to, probably late at night, is a great part of the deal too! You never have to go far for a pair of ears, or two, ready to listen to your problems. Even if it's about nothing at all. Or deep relationship topics and moral dilemmas.



Borrowing their stuff, is great. Especially if you're the same gender because then you can borrow clothes too.

Giving them tips or suggestions and advice are a good way older siblings can help a younger sibling. I haven't had to much experience with that. Except for little things. Probably because I only have one sibling who is younger than me who is old enough to need anything like that.



But there are also not so good things that come with having younger siblings unfortunately. Thankfully most of these things are related to being younger, or small children.

Having so many brothers can be extremely annoying! Of course boys of every age are good at being annoying. ;) Having one in each age category piles on the annoyance factor sometimes.


Sibling rivalry 
This one is usually more of problem when siblings are kids, but it can still exist when they're grown. As kids it can be about anything, racing from one end of the yard to the other, or something more serious.

Just in case you were wondering. It is never silent around the house. Usually, as weird as it may sound, the shower is one of the only times you can't hear something or other going on.

Of course that also means you almost always have someone to hangout with. Enough that I don't feel lonely much. It would kinda be hard to!

If you're anything like us when we were little, or if you have kids, than you may have to deal with fighting at least once a day. This isn't as unusual for kids, in fact that's pretty much sibling 101.

Running out of hot water because everyone used it. Is yet another fact about having a big family. Thank goodness we have more than one water heater though and it's not as big of a problem as it used to be! :D

These facts are accurate for some people and not so much for others. All of our siblings or kids will experience these things at some point, and hopefully it'll be more of the good than the bad. After everything else it's about who they are and who they're turning into.
 I personally, currently have siblings who are in many different parts of their lives.
One is a toddler, one is a teenager, another is an adult and works a full time job.
Seeing them from my point of view is incredible and has been a journey and will continue to be. Never lose faith. Never let go. Let them be who they are, but don't be afraid to help them, or guide them if need be.
They're still just kids after all.




I read this article a while back and I realized how accurate a lot of the points they make are to me! Check it out if you want:
https://www.theodysseyonline.com/15-things-you-know-to-be-true-when-your-sibling-is-10-years-younger

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