Have you ever wished you could go back in time and give yourself the advice you’ve acquired over the years? I know I have. My life would be vastly different if that were possible but I don’t think I would take the chance even if I could. I like how things have turned out and I’ve come to terms with the things I don’t like as much. Plus I have the next best thing to time travel – a younger sister.

There is about a seven year gap between our ages that has been hard to breach while growing up. We’ve been on such different levels before now and it’s weird to see that the time where I get to be her friend instead of her babysitter is quickly approaching, if it isn’t already upon us. We’ve had our fair share of good times and silly traditions such as Christmas Eve sleepovers and going down the big yellow slide at the fair together. However, those experiences have been different. I am her big sister but those were times where I was acting like a sister. Now that she’s older I feel like we can be friends. I’ve taken her to concerts at Kilby Court, gone clothes shopping, and talked to her about boys and problems with friends in her life and mine. We’ve reached the point of no return where we can finally chill and if you have younger siblings, you may know what I’m talking about.

There were a number of years where I could not stand her but in the past few months, she’s started to come out of that annoying phase and is finally turning into a real person. She’s like a smaller version of me with a whole bunch of beautifully unique eccentricities that are all her own and I think that’s pretty dang neat. She is following in my foot steps and just started her first year of junior high across the valley at Churchill Junior High. As far as pre-college years go, those were the best I had and I’m beyond excited for her to become even more of her own person there. I’m lucky that I had my best friend Hailey there with me for the first year. Becca, on the other hand, is even braver than I was and is starting completely fresh by not knowing anyone. Nevertheless, it hasn’t even been a week and she’s already telling me about how she’s making new friends and my past teachers are telling her to say hi to me. In return, I get to give her advice on all the cool things she can get involved with there. She gets exclusive insider information on classes, teachers, and extracurricular activities that I didn’t have and some of her classmates may not get either. Although, let’s face it, this is Utah and there are going to be a number of other kids who have had older siblings make it through the other side. But you know, these years are not a competition. It doesn’t matter what anyone else at that school is doing as long as she’s following whatever makes her happy. I think the change in scenery and marginal freedom in class options is going to be really good for her. The days of sassy, perceived independence are coming but I remember what it was like back then and I say bring it on, sister.