There is nothing I love more than seeing the reaction on people's faces when I tell them I have 5 siblings. It is priceless. Usually I get asked, "same parents?!" followed by either "God bless your mother" or "Jesus Christ." We are not the Duggar family, it is just a small party whenever we're all together. I have 2 brothers and 3 sisters with ages ranging from 10-28. For those of you who did not get to experience growing up with handful of siblings, I am going to share some pros and cons for you.
Pros:
1. There is always someone to help you or play with. If no one was around to hangout I could just tag along with one of my siblings. They usually got annoyed by me, but eventually they'd give in and let me hangout with them.
2. Hand-me-down city — some people may not seen this as a pro, but in my eyes it is. Never having to break in those uncomfortable shoes for a formal occasion or being able to raid your sisters closet for a dress the night of an event.
3. Holidays are pretty crazy. Now that most of my siblings are spread across the map we usually only see each other on main holidays like Christmas and Easter and it's wild. We have a giant nerf gun war in the house, and my brothers always make me laugh so hard my stomach hurts. It is also fun to watch everyone make jokes about each other and bring up embarrassing stories that still make us pee our pants laughing.
4. Your last name becomes legendary — I'm not kidding when I say this. For example, senior year of high school I was parking in a private office parking lot (with somewhat permission to). A week after parking there, a guy who worked there approached me on my way to school and began to yell at me. I instantly responded with "Mr. X gave me permission to! I'm Kathryn Rossi ask hi—" "WAIT, you're a Rossi? Nick's little sister?" "Yes" "Oh I'm sorry, enjoy your day." And just like that I was off the hook, all because of my last name.
5. Your social skills are above average. When living with 7 different people in one house, constantly interacting with them and knowing their personalities inside and out, you learn to be able to deal with any social situation that you may encounter. I honestly think I became so in love with public speaking because I had to put serious effort in to get my parents attention.
6. The blame game is endless — sorry Mom and Dad but it's true. I have 5 people I can use at any given moment to get me out of jail quick. "Who left this glass on the table? There's a ring on it now!" "I think it was Meri." And you're safe.
7. You have your own cheer squad. My mom dragged all my siblings to my talent shows, plays, choir performances, musicals, etc. and even though they usually all initially stared me down with hatred because they were forced to come, they applauded for me at the end and showed genuine support.
Cons:
1. Left overs have a short lifespan. I learned this the hard way, especially since I have older brothers. You could write your name on your doggy bag a million times and they'll still eat it. Do not get me started on cookies. I can make 48 cookies one night, and the next morning they'll all be gone. It's disgusting yet so typical of my family. My mom will tell us to hide whatever leftovers from restaurants we really want because I live with barbarians.
2. Your belongings randomly go "missing" constantly — I am definitely guilty of this. What can I say? My sister has good taste. However, now I understand her frustration. My little sister is starting to fit into some of my clothes and they go missing! Or I will come home to her in one of my shirts and it's so frustrating. Chargers, headphones, hair ties, socks, brushes, they all go somewhere and you never see them again.
3. Getting ganged up on by older siblings —Both of my parents work full time and sometimes 2 siblings will pick on 1 sibling and it is brutal. There's no parental vision to stop it and it's really upsetting. My older sisters would do it to me way too often (they sometimes still do to this day).
4. 6 different schedules and only 2 parents. It is not unusual for schedules to conflict. However, having only 2 parents and 6 different places to be in one night is exhausting for them. I have a spring concert the same night as my sister's softball game, and I want both of my parents to be there but then my sister would be all alone. We had to make mini sacrifices for each other which is a great life skill for the future.
