I have four older brothers. They drive me crazy, but I love them. For all the girls out there who sit in the same boat, let's just admit what we all know to be true.
1. We were taught to be tough as nails.
Growing up in a house of boys, we experience our fair share of abuse. Teasing is endless and merciless. The only way to combat this terrible treatment is to develop an armor that is so strong that they will never be able to crack us.
2. We know that any suitor will be inspected by the brothers.
Usually when a significant other comes to family dinner, they only have to impress the parents. Not in our families. All of the boys must sign off on the suitor, and we all know that there will definitely be some hoops and humiliation for all parties involved.
3. In addition, we compare every possible love interest to the boys.
4. We know how to rough house.
Having older brothers means constantly being the David to their Goliath. We know that the likelihood of us succeeding in a battle of strength is small, but that does not stop us from trying to bring down the giants at every opportunity. Furthermore, we are raised in the world of legos, nerf guns, and war games. Just try to outshoot us.
5. We often have an easier time being friends with boys.
Our first friends were our siblings; they were all boys. When their friends came over, they were all boys. We learned the language and actions of boys. Though we may not understand them completely, boys usually make more sense to us than girls.
6. We often enjoy a less than mature sense of humor.
If someone passes gas, we will smile. When someone says, "duty," we will giggle. We regularly find ourselves gathered around computers watching videos of people falling or getting hurt. If put in a room with fifth grade boys, we will likely find some joke that we all can laugh about. We know we shouldn't find it entertaining, but we do.
7. We know how to be loud.
Whether we are fake crying to get our mother's pity, trying to have our opinions heard at the dinner table, or calling each other at the bottom of the stairs in the morning, yelling is an important part of our family dynamic, and we can hold our own with the best of them.
8. We can eat a full dinner in five minutes flat (including seconds).
In our house, if you didn't eat fast enough, you didn't get more. A good bowl of ice cream was a battle. Large appetites were expected. The funny thing is that most of us do not even realize our eating pace or our portion sizes are irregular until much later in life. Girls from these families have likely had that moment where we realize we have two bites of our 12 inch sub left, while our friends have eaten a quarter of their small salad.
9. We developed a working knowledge of all the great movie series' while still in diapers.
Our brothers watched Indiana Jones while we were learning to walk, so of course we had nightmares about having our hearts removed from our chests. We knew what Hogwarts House we were in before we knew how to read. Our imaginary friends were Yoda and Ewoks.
10. We regularly struggle to understand the usual "girly" stuff.
Like Jennifer Lawrence, we all struggled to understand the basic nuances of being a girl. It started with trying to understand peeing sitting down, but it would escalate over the years to jewelry and makeup.
11. At times we may wish for sisters, but we are always happy to have grown up in a house of boys.
When we were younger, we may have wished to have a bunch of older sisters. We wanted to someone to play Barbies with and watch My Little Pony, not Cops and Robbers and Power Rangers. However at the end of the day, the experiences and memories from our childhood shaped who we are. Our brothers are the greatest supporters and friends. They have abused and babied us, they have loved and hated us, and they have always been there. For that, we can never repay them.
