If you have a little sibling, chances are you love them a lot. Even though you might get into stupid little fights about nothing all the time, they're still the best little kiddos on Earth. They may have been more adorable and easy to trick when they were toddlers, but now, as they grow up with you, they just seem like some of your very best friends. My little brothers are both 16-years-old and are on their merry little way to adulthood, and personally, I am shocked.
I still remember when my parents brought them home when I was 4-years-old. All my extended family was racing around my mom as she toured them through the house and I, trying to keep up with my tiny little legs, fell directly on my face. It didn't hurt—I fell a lot as a kid but I was expecting some sort of parental concern.
No one noticed - they were all too concerned with how alike the twins looked and how adorable they were. I was actually kind of looking forward to having new kiddos in the house, but after that incident, they could go back to that smelly hospital and I would not mind in the slightest.
But then they grew up a little into stumbling little people who couldn't walk in a straight line for their lives. They laughed at stupid things like flushing toothpaste down the toilet and spilling flour all over the kitchen floor. Perfect little cartoons. I found myself cleaning them up after their falls, reading them stories, trying to put them to sleep. Their weird, toothless smiles grew on me little by little.
For the first time in my life, something else was new, too; I was useful. I wasn't just a little kid who woke up in the morning, did some coloring, watched "Dora," and then took a nap. I actually had things to do! "Sana, go make sure your brothers don't hurt themselves." Absolutely, I was honored. Confused, alarmed, though ultimately prouder than I've ever been.
They had to go to school eventually. For the most part, it was great; the classes came naturally to them and they took to academics like fish to water. They made lots of little friends who shared the same interests like dirt and action figures. There were also some bullies, and that's what broke my heart. I thought that they were too small to deal with this, too young and soft. However, the confrontation is what made them stronger and more independent. They stopped looking so little in my eyes and started to grow up. It was strange watching these little people who so easily cried at misplacing a toy become so strong.
Now they're 16. That means they've got a world of high school hell in front of them, but I'm not worried. As I try to give them cool tips and tricks, as if I remember anything about high school, they seem to have it down already. They really do grow up so fast.
