Family. They're the ones who can drive you crazy and make you love them all at the same time. They're the ones you know always have your back and will love you unconditionally. Whether you have three siblings or seven, here are 12 things that every kid with a big family can relate to.
1. Hand-me downs
Whether it was clothes, shoes, cell phones or cars, you were always giving them or getting them. The shirt that was your favorite when you were 12? It's probably in your younger sister's drawer right now. Who knows, it might even be her favorite shirt now.
2. Weekend sleepovers
If you didn't have movie-night sleepovers, did you even have a big family? Why sleep alone in your own room, especially when the alternative is trying to see how many people you can fit on a couch or sleeper sofa?
3. Being in charge of the carpool
Because your car was the only one big enough to take seven girls to the mall, or half of the soccer team to practice. Plus, half of the group likely consisted of your family anyways.
4. A bigger wardrobe
Having a lot of siblings does have its benefits. If nothing else, your wardrobe doubled, tripled or even quadrupled in size. Who can complain about more clothes?
5. Always having someone to talk to
No worries if one of your siblings was mad at you because you had three others to choose from. And if you got into fights, you were never on your own team. You always had backup from at least one of your siblings.
6. Sibling rivalry
Everything, and I mean EVERYTHING was a competition. You competed over normal things, like who got the best grades, and not-so-normal things too. Even everyday activities like eating meals turned into a competition of who could eat the fastest. Only, of course, because whoever ate the fastest got dessert first.
7. Long bathroom waits
For some reason, everyone just had to take a shower at the same time, resulting in an hour wait and numerous fights just to use the bathroom or brush your teeth. Once you even got to that point, finding your toothbrush was like searching for a needle in a haystack- next to impossible.
8. Having enough people to play any sport
Most kids could only play baseball on a team after school, during recess or during gym class. You were the lucky ones though, having enough kids to split the family in half and play any sport you wanted, any time you wanted. It was more fun that way too because you could come up with bizarre team names and trash talk each other without anyone getting offended.
9. The fight over the passenger seat
No seat in the entire car was as good as the one right next to the driver, complete with seat warmers, temperature controls and most importantly, absolute control over the radio. Screaming out "I call shotgun" was completely invalid. Whoever got their first got the seat unless you could somehow convince them to move. Good luck with that.
10. You respond to ALL of your sibling's names (and maybe your dog's name too)
Let's be honest, there was no way your parents could keep all of your names straight. If you say that you've never been called the name of at least one of your siblings, you're lying. At this point, you just respond to all of their names. You probably respond to your pet's name too. Even people outside of your family occasionally call you the wrong name. The best part of all of it is the reaction you get from people when you respond to someone else's name.
11. Your teachers know all of your siblings
The first thing you heard on the first day of school from most of your teachers was "Oh you're so and so's younger sister". If you were lucky enough that none of your teachers ever had your siblings, no need to worry, all of your older sibling's friends made up for it. It was as if no one knew you actually had a name that wasn't "so and so's younger sibling".
12. Arguments over anything you only had one of
In the car, there were arguments over what song you were going to listen to on the radio. At home, there were arguments over who used the computer too much and whose turn it was to use the computer next. "Whose turn is it on the (insert game platform of choice here)?" was a question you debated with your siblings nonstop. Nothing, however, could compare to the debate over what you would watch on TV. One sibling wanted to watch Cartoon Network, one wanted to watch Disney and one wanted to watch Nickelodeon. The winner was always whoever found the remote first. The only good thing was that you always had someone to play Nintendogs or MarioKart with.
In the end...
Growing up with double the amount of people in most of your friends' families often meant double or triple the noise, chaos and arguments. It also meant double the fun and excitement. Through it all, however, you know you wouldn't trade your siblings for the world. Who else is always there to pick you up when you fall down? Who else will always have your back? Having a big family definitely has its ups and downs, but you know that deep down, you wouldn't change your childhood. It taught you teamwork, cooperation, compromise and most importantly, how to love.
