I like to say that the only thing that my brother and I have in common is our face, because we are complete opposites on every level. He is three years older than me but sometimes it feels like I am older than him, and sometimes it feels like he is thirty years older than me. This makes for a very interesting relationship. Our sleep patterns are different, our level of cleanliness are way different, and our social lives are very different. This is my life having a sibling that is the complete opposite of myself:

1. Your Friday nights are spent doing completely different things.

Your Friday nights may be spent going out to dinner or going to a school event and you are usually in bed by eleven o’clock because chances are that you have something Saturday morning and you do not like to stay out too late. You also like to sleep a lot. Your sibling on the other hand, starts his pre-games at eleven and ends at about 3 a.m. They are able to wake up the next day not harmed, but if you did that you would look like a zombie. But somehow you both still had awesome nights, you just did it a little differently.

2. Your bathrooms look a lot different.

Your sibling’s is probably super messy with the toilet seat up, toothpaste open, and an overflowing garbage can. Yours probably looks like it came out of an IKEA magazine, and you could probably eat off of the floor. Hey, both bathrooms still have running water, a flushing toilet seat, and a hand towel. They still get the job done. This is another reason why it is probably better you guys aren’t living together anymore.

3. Your conversations with your parents are a lot different.

Your sibling probably talks to them about parties, politics, and having pancakes for dinner. You probably talk to your parents about the clubs you are in, your next meeting with your advisor, and balancing a busy life. As long as you are talking to your parents that is all that matters.

4. When you go out to eat with them the conversation revolves around family members and movies.

It’s okay, we have all been there. We have all forced a conversation or two in our lives, but the important thing is that despite the fact that you may not have a million things to talk about at least you are out together and bonding.

5. Your idea of a “meal” is completely opposite.

Your sibling probably likes nachos for breakfast, scrambled eggs with sriracha and orange juice for dinner. If you are anything like me, you enjoy a balanced breakfast, lunch, and dinner, and you have snacks packed for throughout the day. As long as you guys are eating that’s okay, right?

6. You think the other is absolutely crazy.

They are clearly from another planet, I mean really, how are they possibly related to me? It just does not make sense at all.

7. When you call them you know that their perspective will make things better.

It is always good to hear from someone else’s point of view because they offer advice that you probably didn’t think about. It can help with life’s tough decisions because hearing what they have to say will clear things up for you.

8. They have opened you up to a whole other world.

I have met some of the most interesting people through my brother and I have gone on some of the most interesting journeys with my brother as well. Without him there are a lot of things I would not have done but I am grateful I have done them.

9. You have to start shopping for their birthday gifts months in advance.

You just do not know where to begin, what do you get them? This requires research, in depth conversations with their friends, and a lot of late nights online. You want to make sure you get them something that they will like and since you don’t really know what they like it makes it that much harder. But with the right amount of love and effort you can get them the perfect gift.

10. They end up being the person you never knew you needed.

Maybe the reason why they are so different from us is because we need them to balance ourselves out. We need them because they teach us more about ourselves and more about others.

Let’s face it, do we really need two versions of ourselves walking around? Probably not, but what we do need is someone in our life who is completely different from us to teach us about life, to open up our world, and to be the other perspective that we all need. Without our siblings we just would not be the same.