Almost everyone, excluding only children, has had the experience of growing up living with a sibling. It can be all fun and games until someone is in a bad mood and starts mouthing off. Then, you go to college with your sibling and the whole situation changes. Now you two are living together in an apartment, unsupervised, with nobody to act as a mediator. You’re going to need a little more than luck to get through this one, but at least you’ll learn a few things along the way.

Your patience is tested constantly.

But that’s not always a bad thing. As many angry phone calls I’ve made to my mother complaining that my sister won’t do her dishes or empty the trash, I’ve learned to be patient, something I have never been good at in the past. I have learned to take a step back from the situation and try to calm down before I get angry. When it comes down to it, whether or not the dishes are clean is not a topic worth starting a huge argument over.

You have to learn to pick up after other people.

This is just a necessity when you’re responsible for taking care of the place you live. My sister and I didn't have our parents to pick up after us anymore, so it was up to us. Sure, it usually fell to me, but at least I’ve learned to be okay with picking up after people, something I’ll most likely be doing for the rest of my life.

Sharing takes on a whole new meaning.

Of course, when you’re little you’re forced to share with your siblings, but that’s different. Sharing becomes a necessity rather than a pleasantry. Common things that you wouldn’t think would be difficult to share become difficult. Often I found myself throwing my sister’s laundry on the floor in her room because she didn’t empty the dryer and I needed it. Things like this are bound to happen, but the outcome is all in the way you handle it.

You start to understand your mother’s frustration with you growing up.

This is one of the biggest takeaways I’ve had since living with my sister on our own. Because I tended to be the one taking care of everything, I found myself frustrated often. I felt like I was the only one that cared about the apartment and I was the only one doing anything. There was even a time when I admitted, while lecturing my sister, that I sounded just like my mother. I realized how frustrated she was when we didn’t do our dishes at home or pick up after ourselves: I only had one other person to clean up after, but she had four. I can’t even imagine cleaning up after four other people.

However, siblings really are the best roommates.

As much as you fight, they will never hold it against you. You’re arguing over the groceries one minute and the next you’re back to normal. That’s just the way it is with siblings. If you were rooming with a friend, those constant arguments are likely to turn into more and boil over into your friendship. You don’t have to worry about that with your siblings; they have to be your friend. And you’ll grow closer with them as you learn how to take care of a house and each other.