1. You needed to get in good with the oldest

The oldest kid was similar to a dictator when the parents weren’t present. And even if the parents were present, the oldest sibling had a way of letting you know what to say or not to say without even speaking a word.

2. You couldn’t take yourself too seriously

Honestly you got made fun of by your siblings as if their allowances depended on it. No matter what you were doing, what you were wearing or if you were just wandering along minding your own business, you got made fun of. Thankfully, there were a few kids running around so you weren’t the constant target of all the wrath.

3. You had to do everything efficiently and in a sense of speed

If you were eating, you better do it quick before someone stole your food. If you were showering, you better make it quick because someone was bound to shut the hot water off around the 12-minute mark. And if you were napping, it better be a 20 minutes or less ordeal because once the deep sleep hit was when the pranksters came out.

4. You couldn’t all gang up on one kid too often

Because they cry! And it’s hard to blame the prank on the kid that’s already crying, so sometimes you had to just bite the bullet if you messed up too bad.

5. Everything that happened while mom and dad were gone stayed in the circle of loyalty

Let's be honest with ourselves, too many things happened while mom and dad were gone that if one kid started to unravel about one incident, all of the incidents were going to spill out. Thus, the stories had to be air tight. And if something got broken, it was a collective group effort of sharing the blame, like a communal punishment.

6. There were no wimps allowed

If you were scared, if you were hurt, if you were afraid … that was too bad, you had to suck it up, buttercup. There was no room for crying, boo-boos or feelings in this hard core gang of children.

7. You thought you’d all grow out of it

Wrong! There’s no growing out of this way of survival. Once you live your life for 18 years in a very specific type of survival mode, there’s no going back. Thus, when you’re all together for Thanksgiving breaks now, the pranking life will resume. May the odds be ever in your favor.