I've been home from college for over a month and so far my summer has been nothing what I expected. Just completing my freshman year, I figured I would come home and hangout with my high school friends 24/7. In reality, I've probably gone to lunch a handful of times with old friends and that has been about the extent of my hangouts. Outside of these few and rare meetups, the only person I've really hung out with is my brother. During the countless hours I've spent with my brother this month, I've picked up on a few reasons why I would choose to hangout with my brother and sister any day over my own friends.
Yeah, you can forget trying to impress them
You're siblings have seen you at your best, and subsequently, your worst. They've been around a majority, if not all, of your life and know your true self, not the person you have to be to fit in.
It doesn’t get awkward when you get bored
Ever been hanging out with a friend and even though you love them, there was nowhere else you wanted to be besides home? Or when you were little and you got really bored while hanging out but it was only 3pm and your mom wasn't picking you up until 5pm? It's a rough life. But that's not really a problem when they live down the hall.
Nobody’s going to be more straight up with you than your siblings
Basically the reversal of #1. If they think your ideas are stupid, they're going to tell you. If they're tired and want to go home, they're going to tell you. If they really don't want Chick-fil-A AGAIN, they're going to tell you. And occasionally, if they absolutely do not feel like hanging out, they're going to tell you (*cues relentless begging*). Fake excuses are not a thing in the sibling world.
Planning isn’t a thing
As easy as it should be in the digital day, planning to hangout with friends is a lot of work and can be daunting for the lazy (aka me). It's easy to put in your GM "wyd" but what's not easy is getting people to respond, finding a time that works for everyone, and behold, trying to find something to do. Do you know what's so much easier? Yelling "COLIN!!!!!!!! SHAELYN!!!!!! WANNA GO TO CFA WITH ME??" from the comforts of my bed.
You have the same time limits
I was ALWAYS the one who had to come late and leave early. I was always the one in the friend group who threw off the times. All of my life, my family has been extremely busy so hanging out with friends is always a production. Time was scarce and my friends were constantly having to jump through hoops to make it work. But you know who always had the same available time frame as me? My brother and my sister. Boom.
Don't get me wrong, I love my friends. But there's something special about actually being friends with your siblings and I'm just now starting to appreciate it. My siblings have always been such a huge part of my life — my favorite parts of growing up were the hours spent playing Barbies with my sister and running around in the yard with my brother (make your kids play in the dirt!!! It's good for them!!!).
I was always close with my siblings but I thought that was just part of life, that siblings were put in our lives to be there for us. But the older I get, the more and more I grasp the concept that people do not stick around forever. Like the stages of life, friends come and go. And that's why more recently I've truly started to appreciate the relationship I have with my siblings — I know that no matter what, through the thick and thin, they will never leave my side. Yes, they're family, but they're also the truest friends a girl could ever ask for.
