Nobody Knows You Like Your Siblings Do

“Siblings are like branches of a tree. We grow in different directions, yet our roots remain as one.”  –Author Unknown

Ahhh the sound of siblings yelling in the morning. “MOM! She hit me!” “Mom, he threw the ball at my head!” Sound familiar?

I am one of four children, and my siblings are now some of my best friends. Nobody knows family history like siblings, even if you end up having different versions of the same memories. When the time comes and our parents need care, I know I have people to rely on, and we can share the decision-making that inevitably will come with aging parents (don’t worry, Mom, I know we aren’t there yet)!

Occasionally though, even as adults, sibling rivalry can rear its ugly head. Has this ever happened to you?

For example, when I found out I was pregnant with my first child, I was obviously so excited. I called my mom and gave her the good news. She was thrilled for me, but then gave me space to be a bit bummed when she said “I feel like I should tell you something.” The funny part is, I immediately guessed what it was. “Don’t tell me, Amanda is pregnant, AGAIN.” I had a moment of annoyance because it was my turn to have the spotlight, gosh darn it! This would be her fourth kid, but my first, so shouldn’t I have a moment of all the attention (typical middle child woes, amiright)? It turns out it was awesome for both of us because these kids are the only boys in each of our families (she has 4 girls and 1 boy, and I have 2 girls and 1 boy). When we all get together, they have an absolute blast with each other.

My husband and his brother don’t see each other all that often, but when they do, they immediately revert back to being kids, reliving funny stories from when they were in high school, and sometimes even getting slightly out of control with a food fight and arm wrestling. It’s fun to see the silliness in them, as they are usually caught up in being adults.

With my own kids, finding a balance of activities and attention for each kid can be tough. My middle kiddo plays A LOT of softball, and that means tournaments on the weekends. Since we see ourselves as one family unit, we all go to all the games. Recently, the youngest one has started to let us know she doesn’t love this plan! “Oh man, another game? Really? I just want to stay at home and [insert all favorite activities here — paint, draw, play with LEGOs, be in the air conditioning, etc.] We always have to go to her games.” Mind you, she also plays softball and we all go to her games as well, but I am wondering what the future will hold. My aforementioned son is the scorekeeper for the team, so that keeps him busy (and he gets a few dollars a game to do this job because most of the parents don’t want to mess with this task), but sometimes the schedule of their sister just takes over and they don’t get to just hang at home. I don’t think it’s anything actually against her older sister, I think it’s just a lack of time for a day or afternoon of normal playtime for a 7-year-old (that’s a whole other blog post waiting to happen). We could split up, but then about half our weekends aren’t spent together. I’m still working on a solution to this, but mainly it involves a lot of prayers that she becomes a good sport again about going to tournaments!

Overall, my kids get along well, and I am thankful they have each other, now and for their future. The moments of fighting fade when I see them playing games together to pass the time in line at Disney, or when I see them choosing to snuggle on the couch together while watching a movie. They will always have their shared childhood, and my husband and I talk often about how we hope they all live not too far away from us when they grow up and have families of their own.

Stop what you’re doing right now and send your sibling a text or give them a quick call, and tell us what your favorite memory or thing is about having siblings!

What’s your favorite thing about being a sibling?