You have grown up together. You have watched them develop and mature into the person they are today, and this is absolutely terrifying. Nothing is more earth shattering than watching your adorable, naive younger sibling turn into the horrifying monster that is their teenage years.
The wide-eyed kid who worshipped your every move is gone. Now, you are just hoping for a little glimpse of the past. I love my brother, who is finishing up his freshman year of high school. But there are definitely some things that I wish didn't have to change when he turned into the tough, lady-killing machine that he is today. When this happens, you have officially experienced the heartache of a brother or sister no longer being your baby sibling, and it's important to know there are people out there dealing with the same pain.
Here are the biggest struggles of watching your sibling grow up:
1. They refuse to do even the smallest favors for you.
The option for you to get out of simple requests and chores is over. When you ask your sibling to bring you something from the kitchen or pass the remote the answer is a stern no, usually with some sort of sassy comeback attached. They are their own person now, and they have realized that you have spent most of their childhood bossing them around.
2. You don't win anymore when you play fight.
In the past, when you used to play around with your sibling you could take them down real fast. I don't know about you, but my brother is 10 times bigger than me now. When I try to pick a fight, instead of him running away screaming, it is me being swung over his shoulder pleading and clawing to be put down while he doesn't even struggle and laughs at my weakness.
3. They talk to the opposite sex and that is completely mortifying.
I know nothing to be truer than this fact. With a brother who is handsome and too nice for his own good, I have one basic fear -- that the girls in his high school will eat him alive.
4. They take a million times longer in the bathroom now.
Do you know what's happening in there? No. Do you want to? Probably not.
5. They go out now and they are probably doing something that would make you and your parents nervous.
You did that stuff, too. You know what they are probably doing and whatever it is you know they probably shouldn't be.
6. Somehow the rules that once applied to you, do not apply to them.
They know this and don't worry -- they make sure to rub it in your face.
7. They do not think before they speak.
“Did that really come out of his mouth?" Yes, it did, and he does not see anything wrong with it. That pure kid with the goofy grin on his face has disappeared and he says or repeats things that should never come out of your mouth, let alone his.
8. They do not have as much time for you, anymore.
They have their friends, homework, and all their “grown-up stuff." Sibling time has to be scheduled.
9. Hugs in public are no longer an option.
Apparently, hugs are not the cool, hip thing to do anymore. You have grown out of the stage of thinking it is embarrassing, and they have jumped right in.
10. You have to worry about them in the real world.
You have gone through all the stress of becoming an adult and you know what lies in their future. You want to protect them and spare them from everything that crushes your soul, but you have to let them learn on their own.
In the end, you love them and you would do anything for them. This is just a rough patch they need to get over. Hopefully, they will do that quickly.
