Brothers have a sixth sense when it comes to their sisters. Of course, the brother is dubbed as “the protector”—the one when push comes to shove, he will guard you with his life. It doesn’t matter if you haven’t spoken in days or weeks; if you have a problem, the person who will forever be by your side is your brother. Maybe that’s the brother-sister dynamic, modeled off of the traditional damsel-in-distress/old-fashioned era that seems to be running through our veins without our knowledge, but there are times when how much your brother gets you is just plain creepy.

While the relationship between two sisters is special in its own way, there’s nothing like growing up with a brother. Besides the fact that there were time periods where you both legitimately planned ways you could injure each other, you wouldn’t trade your childhood years of way-too-competitive extracurricular home activities, such as basketball outside or Gamecube, for anything. Even after enduring years of being physically tormented by your brother (causing you to wonder if your brother actually thinks you are a boy) you realize that there really is a “special” bond here, and this bond is the most evident when you bring a new boyfriend home:

Brothers aren’t fooled by the kiss-up boyfriend charm

And while mothers also have a sixth sense ability when it comes to their children (my whole world was rocked when I found out my mom didn't actually have eyes in the back of her head and I’ll be damned if I ever lose something my mom can’t find), brothers are on a whole other level. Upon merely looking at your new boyfriend, they have how long the relationship is going to last already conjured up in their brains and decide immediately whether or not this boy is worth their time. You know how studies show that it takes women 10 seconds to decide if she’s going to sleep with a guy or not? It takes brothers less than two seconds to decide if he likes his sister’s boyfriend or not. Parents can be fooled by the charm… brothers can’t.

You guys grew up together

No matter what you may think outwardly, inwardly you think your brother is one of the greatest males to walk the earth and what he thinks of you is more important than you may even realize. Maybe it’s because you share blood or maybe it’s because you spent mostly your entire childhood with him right by your side, but when it comes to picking a partner, impressing your brother is more important than you would think. You’ve come to admire the person your brother has turned into and want to date a guy that could at least compete with your brother’s pre-set standards. So, if you bring home a guy that your brother doesn’t think is good enough for you, he’ll notice it right away, whereas your parents will be a little more forgiving. But in your brother’s eyes, it’s either the best or nothing for his sister. If this new guy isn’t the “best” right away, no second chances will be distributed.

Brothers should want to hang out with “the new guy”

“The new guy” (how your brother will refer to him for an annoyingly long period of time at first) hasn’t proved himself yet to anyone and he needs to establish his character almost immediately. And while parents act as omniscient god-navigators that can somehow sense a good or bad moral compass, brothers don’t act as anything other than what they are…guys. Your brother should want to hang out with your new boyfriend. You and your brother spent your entire childhoods as each other’s best friends and you grew up together under the same roof and most likely under the supervision of the same parents—even if your brother and boyfriend are wildly different, your brother’s interest is the best gauge to see if, besides the relationship-y stuff, you and your new guy are even compatible on a friend level. If your brother doesn’t even want to hang out with your new boyfriend, why should you want to?

While brothers are still figuring out their own personal life and may or may not have experience dating, the eerie foreshadowing that comes from a brother’s first impression of the guy you date cannot be matched by anything. It’s almost like it’s this weird supernatural superpower that brothers have when it comes to their sisters. You love your brother. You probably love him more than any other human being on the entire planet and with that love comes this unfaltering and unprecedented trust. In this situation, that trust manifests itself in what I’ve come to call a “brotherly instinct.” My new rule of thumb? I will never start dating a guy without him first meeting my brother. My brother knows me more than I even know me, even if we haven’t spoken in long periods of time and while parents are most likely right 95 percent of the time, brothers have like a 99 percent success rate in this area.

The boys that girls date shouldn’t stress about “meeting the parents”… they should stress about “meeting the brother.”