For starters I have two brothers, one older and one younger. I have learned a lot from being the middle child and only girl. I used to miss the idea of having a sister, but as I get older I think I appreciate my brothers even more because we don’t fight over two very crucial things, boys and clothes.
When I was first brought home from the hospital I’m told that my older brother told my grandparents, “don’t get used to her, she’s going back,” so in the years to come there was nowhere but up to go in our relationship. By the time I was a toddler I never worried about a thing because he followed me around like I was this china doll that was the most fragile thing he had ever laid eyes on. He also made sure my Barbies were all clothed and when I would play dress-up I always looked my best. For the longest time I wasn’t even allowed to call him by his name, because whenever I would try he would look at me and say, “no, I’m brother.”
That’s what is great about having an older brother, feeling protected. I never once felt threatened when I was younger because I had my big brother at my side. No matter if we were at the babysitters and someone wasn’t being very nice or that there was a genuine reason to be scared, I just wasn’t because he was there. Freshmen year in high school, I remember, not being afraid of anything or anyone because I had my brother, the big tough senior.
I wasn’t a “girly-girl” when I was younger because I had brothers, too. I wanted to keep up with my older brother, so what ever sport he and his friends played, I almost always played too. I’m not afraid to break a nail or to get into a game because of always playing sports and watching my older brother play, too. Even now having my brothers brings out my competitive side, trying to show them that I’m just as good as they are. I also loved hanging out with him and his friends as I got older because it made me feel “bad ass,” and I’m pretty sure my first crush was one of his close friends.
When my younger brother was born I was so happy, I was also only 4. I was let down a little bit when he came out a boy, but I quickly realized that was the best. With my little brother being, well, a brother, that meant certain things for me. That meant that I did not have to share my room or my Barbies. This has proven to still be amazing now that we are both teens and have acquired so much stuff that it would not fit in my room. It also meant that instead of me get bossed around, I now got to boss someone else around. With me wanting to be the boss of someone, that also caused a lot of fighting. Which I have to say is the worst part of having a younger brother.
As he got older, we got older, and the fighting just turned into teasing, which is one of the funniest parts of having brothers. I love teasing them both about girls, and the great thing is that they surprisingly don’t tease me about boys, probably because I don’t talk to them about boys. That’s another thing that’s great about having brothers, because when you’re dating someone you can always just bring up how big and strong your brothers are as a friendly reminder to treat you right. It’s a double-edged sword though, because if you really like the guy, but he’s kind of a wimp it can scare him off.
In the end, the absolute best part of having brothers is, as mentioned before, they’re my protectors. They aren’t as vocal as I am when it comes to being over protective, my little brother knows how over protective I am, lets just say you hurt him in any way, shape, or form, I will hurt you. With that being said, I know if I’m hurting or get hurt whether it be emotional or physical they are always there to put a smile on my face and help me heal in any way that they can. I am so very thankful for those two weirdos, and I can’t wait to see what the many more years of having them around will bring.
