The announcement of a new baby brother or sister can bring about a series of emotions; excitement, the fear that mommy and daddy are going to forget about you and only spend time with the baby, or uncertainty. However, the minute you learn of this new intruder into your family, regardless of your age, you begin to realize that things are going to change.

So they finally make their grand entrance into the world, and despite your feelings towards this new person and the large attention shift, you seem to find yourself taking on a new found responsibility, the role of the older sibling. Yes, some could say it’s a blessing while others could say a burden, but regardless, it's a role that you will forever hold, and one that will teach you far more than you ever expected.

For most of us this new found responsibility took its first forms in “watch your little brother/sister while you guys are on the swing set” or “make sure he/she gets a turn too”, this being one of those burden type situations, but you do as your mother says. And then finally there comes time when you’re on the playground and he falls and scrapes his knee on the woodchips, or the other girls at the park won’t let her have a turn on the swing, and you must kick into action. For the first time in your life, you learn the concept of being protective over those whom you hold close. So you stomp on over and tell those girls to let your little sister have a turn or rush to the aid of the teary eyed, little boy on the ground. You realize that as much as you can’t stand this ‘burden’, nobody messes with them except you, and it’s your job to keep them safe.

We also find ourselves influencing these little shadows of ours a lot more than we ever thought possible. Whether they find mom’s secret hiding spot for the cookies, after watching their big brother sneak an afterschool snack, or they strive to be all-star soccer goalie like their big sister, you learn you do have an impact on those around you. No matter how big or small the feat is you begin to realize that someone is looking up to you and it’s up to you to set a good example for them to follow. For the first time you find yourself experiencing the pride of seeing someone else succeed. When you hear the news that your little brother/sister received an acceptance letter to their top college, you can’t help but feel an immense sense of joy and happiness that is so great, yet for another person. For the first time your joy stems from not our own accomplishments but somebody else’s hard work. And finally we find ourselves finding friendship, in what some could say would be an, unexpected place. Sure some of us are attached at the hip since we were young and called each other our best friend at the mere age of five, but for some of us it took a little longer for this friendship to blossom. We always knew we had friends from school or sports or clubs, but then there comes the day where we find ourselves rolling on the floor laughing, or three hours away from home, missing that little ‘burden’ of ours, and we come to realize we grew up with a best friend by our side all along.

So to all those little brother and sisters out there, yes, you will probably annoy us, or try to poke your nose too far into our business, but we can’t deny that we owe an awful lot. You’ve helped to teach us things that aren’t taught in the classroom and ultimately into the people we are today. So thank you for letting us learn through you and being the best friend we never knew we had.