Being the second oldest of four kids, it’s safe to say that my house was never quiet when I was growing up. I have an older brother who is 20, I’m 18, my younger brother is turning 14, and my sister is turning 12. Out of all my friends, I have the most siblings, and it was always kind of nice. In my house, there is always someone to talk to, but there is always someone to get annoyed at. Here’s what it’s like to grow up with three siblings.
1. When you’re home alone, the quietness is a bit disconcerting.
Especially when we were all younger, having a quiet house was rare. There is always a TV on in the background that one of us forgot to turn off, my brother playing with his Nerf guns in the living room, or someone complaining that they don’t like what’s for dinner that night. If by some chance you got the house to yourself, you cherish that time alone.
2. Fighting over the good seats in the car is a common occurrence.
My mom has a standard minivan, so naturally, the four of us would want to get the most comfortable seats. Every time we would go out as a family, we’d run to try to get the two middle seats so we wouldn’t have to climb into the very back seats. Sometimes the fight for the middle seats got loud and bloody, and my parents would have to intervene somehow.
3. There is always someone to take out with you.
I know for me personally, if none of my friends were around to hang out and I wanted to go into town to get a coffee, I would always drag my sister along with me. It’s nice having someone to take with you to do little things like getting coffee or walking around Target or CVS (or getting froyo like in this picture). I know my little sister and I have gotten a lot closer over the past year and a half by having that time together.
4. Family dinners are always very entertaining.
(This picture was after my older brother got me a selfie stick as a graduation gift. My little brother had left the table already.)
The best part of family dinners actually comes at the end. My family has a cat that always bothers my dad to feed him while we’re all eating, and every single time my cat singles him out, my dad ends up getting up to put some food in his bowl. Every night, my dad makes a big deal about the cat bothering him and will pick him up or pull his tail, and my siblings and I just laugh. Trying to explain my family dinners don’t do them any justice, but they are always so funny.
5. Growing up with an older brother really had an impact on my childhood.
Up until I was 6 years old, I wanted to do everything that my older brother did. He was into "Star Wars," so I wanted to be into "Star Wars." He was into Legos, so I wanted to be into Legos. He watched Cartoon Network, so I watched Cartoon Network. I thought my older brother was the coolest person ever, and I would always hang out with him and his friend, who would either build Legos or plays video games on our Game Cube. When I was especially young, I would even wear his old T-shirts that didn’t fit him anymore with my blue jeans. We stopped getting along for a while, as most siblings do, but now that we’re both in college, we're becoming friends again.
6. Getting them Christmas presents is actually so hard.
You’d think that, living with siblings, you’d know everything that they’re into, but once it comes down to getting them something for Christmas, you draw a blank. What is my little brother into again? What doesn’t my little sister have that she wants from me? Should I just get my older brother money, or is that too pathetic and meaningless? I know these questions run through my mind every year around Christmas time, and it makes shopping a lot more stressful.
7. Babysitting.
Need I say any more? Luckily my siblings are at that age now where they can stay home alone and go into town on their own if they wanted to, but when they were younger, it was a bit more annoying. But it was my only way of making money in middle school, so there were many times that I had to cancel plans with friends because I had to babysit. It taught me responsibility, so I guess it wasn’t all that bad.
8. You miss them a lot when you’re away from home.
(My older brother is not in this picture.)
I’m in college now, so saying goodbye to my little sister who I’m definitely the closest to out of all my siblings was pretty hard. I didn’t want to cry, because my mom was there, but I think she could tell that it was tough for me. I have more pictures of me and my sister and family up in my dorm than I have of my friends.
Even though my siblings and I have fights and we get annoyed with each other, there was never a time that I wished that I was an only child. I can’t imagine not having other siblings in the house to talk to and have fun with. I love my brothers and sister and I wouldn’t trade them for anything in the world.
