Siblings|Pad Patter 4.10

[bestcee]

So, today is National Sibling Day.

I'm babysitting a few kids for the next two months, and my only child is learning what it's like to have to share toys, time, and mom! It's good for him, and overall he loves it. But it is an adjustment!

Me? I have 8 siblings, and we range from don't talk to each other to pretty good friends. I have a lot of wonderful stories about when we were younger and the shenanigans we would try. Like building a tree fort without our parents permission - we had a pulley system we used to move the nails, wood, and tools up the tree. My parents found out when the bucket fell on one brothers head and there was blood. Come to think of it, it was usually blood that meant we had to tell mom and dad about what we were up to! We moved a lot, and that helped us be friends when we were younger.

How about you? Do you have siblings? Do you get along? Or are you better when you are apart? And, of course, do you have a favorite sibling? Don't worry! I won't tell!

 

[cfile]

It is just me and my brother... we are now good friends and have been for most of our adult life with the normal sibling spats but he knows he can always count on me (I am the youngest) and vice versa. When we were kids, he would do something, and I would take the blame as I usually got less of a punishment.. lol I am thinking that is because they knew I was lying (always said so on my face) and so I got a lesser punishment, not for the "crime" but for lying .. LOL We were friends growing up until our mid teen years... he is almost 5 years older than I .. when I got older we hung around together again. Now we are very close. I still cherish our bond.

 

[carrie1977]

I'm one of seven children for my mom. I'm the third in line and the oldest girl. We all get along pretty well and always have. Five of us live in the same town and two are in different towns. We don't talk regularly to one another but we always enjoy when we can all be together. My brother, Dominic, is probably my favorite (he is two years younger than me). We are pretty close. He walked me down the isle when I got married.

My "father" has five children (four are my mom's). He has another son that lives in Oregon. We didn't grow up together (since my dad was and is a crappy father) so we aren't very close to him. We do keep in touch via Facebook but the last time I saw him was at my son's second birthday party so almost eleven years ago.

 

[Cherylndesigns]

I have two sisters and one brother. There's an age span between a couple of us, but we get along now that we're all adults. None of us live in the same state, so we're thankful now when we get together, which is seldom. One of my sisters was here for a few days recently and we had a great time.

 

[Iowan]

My mom had five kids in five years. I have four siblings, two of which (non-twins) have their birthday today. I’m close to both of them but unfortunately they do not talk to each other. I’ve gotten closer to my brother as we have gotten older but I have a sister I have not seen in 12 years. My favorite, Peggy, is just the most delightful person in the world.

 

[jk703]

Only child in the house!

 

[Tree City]

I have a brother. He and I are two very different people, so it would be a stretch to say we're friends but we are friendly, if that makes sense.

 

[GlazeFamily3]

I am the oldest of three girls. My husband is the oldest of three boys. And then we have our one awesome daughter.

I am significantly older than my siblings. There is 6.5 years between me and my middle sister and then 14 years between me and my youngest sister. I love them both immensely but I am not incredibly close to either of them. I was really close to my youngest sister when she was little. I was so much older than her that I helped my mom with her often and took her off with me a lot. We were close as she grew and played soccer and I went to as many games as I could. I truly loved to watch her play. We aren't as close anymore due to some incredibly poor life choices she's made, but I hope that one day she will see it all and make better choices and we can all heal. My middle sister and I did not get along in the least growing up. She often took things from my room and it made me so furious. She also left home at a young age, which resulted in her getting pregnant. It's actually a story with a very happy ending as we have daughters that are only a month apart. She's grown into a responsible and amazing mother and truly learned from her past. I have an immense amount of respect for her, regardless of the fact we don't talk all that often.

 

[djp332]

I have 3 older sisters and 2 younger brothers. I’m close with one sister and one brother. I just saw the other brother on Sunday as we drove through NC on our way home from the beach. It makes me sad that he’s far away. He has Parkinson’s and every time I see him I wonder if it will be the last.

The 6 of us went through a separation after our parents died in 1999 and 2000. We didn’t speak for years. Now we have learned to tolerate each other. One sister unfriended me on Facebook because she thought I had something to do with her not being invited to a party. I guess she later found out that I wasn’t invited, either, but she never re-friended me.

 

[Becca Bonneville]

I have two sisters. They are both older than me. They are closer in age but we all are very close. Growing up I had more of the usual sibling spats with my middle sister, Heather. With my oldest sister, Dianne, I think we had a bigger age gap that we never really did the whole sibling spat thing haha. Overall, I think with growing up military (my dad was Army) we had to depend on each other more with moving so much and that made a difference with our bond.

We all live in the same area now (my parents live here too). My entire family is super close (meaning my parents, my sisters, my kids, their kids) and we all talk every day pretty much. We get together for every holiday, birthday and just to play euchre haha. I couldn't imagine my life without them.

 

[LynnG]

Wow, 8 siblings! That is hard for me to imagine. I come from such a tiny family. I have one older sister, and only one cousin (and he lives on the other side of the world so I didn't even meet him until I was in my 20s)

My sister and I were quite different as kids and even though we moved a LOT as well, we were never friends. I think she resented the attention I got from being the sickly one (fair enough!). Our lives have gone in very different directions plus we live many hours apart, but we still see each other at Christmas. But now we are older I really enjoy her company, she is so witty and even now we argue about politics etc, but in good spirit. I would love to be able to spend more time with her.

 

[Sokee]

(I'm pretty sure this was the last group photo we have taken together. My mom is next to my sister who is the bride, she got married 5ish years ago, my dad passed away in 2003)
My mom had seven children, and was done by time she was 29, so we are all close in age. 5 Brothers and 1 sister. I'm am stuck right in the middle LOL. We did everything together when we were kids and were lucky enough to have a neighborhood where there were kids our ages. We lived in the country so all the mothers would kick us out during the day where we would explore the large lake with the stream coming in and the one going out. The large tree back in the woods that grew on a hillside, we put a rope swing there and had a blast..... that is where my youngest brother broke his arm. Rode our bikes for miles on the country roads and to the corner store. We would play steal the flag game once it got dark out.
In the winter we would skate on the lake, ice fish, build snow forts when the snow was deep enough and sled on the hills around our house. It was a WONDERFUL childhood and we still keep in touch with the kids we grew up with.

All my siblings live within 30 miles except for one brother who lives 600 miles away, but still in the same state. We are all busy with our own children/grandchildren that we really don't see each other like we used to.

 

[AnneofAlamo]

Just one younger brother, that passed away too young. We were very close growing up, crazy antics but oh so fun. When I became a Christian, he was very angry. I was a bit in your face not nice cause I wanted him to know Christ forgiveness. It was a long time of silence.
He was diagnosed with stage 4 skin cancer, given 6 weeks to live. Cancer went to his brain, spinal column and everywhere. Before a surgery to help keep his vision, he prayed and received Jesus Christ into his heart. He told me, thru tears. We cried and cried. I flew out to see him, it was amazing. I prayed for him and he was healed of some things, pain in legs, his head, and we laugh, constipation! lol
He died the night before Easter, and although tears flow as I right this, what a day of celebration I had, knowing my baby brother waits for me.

 

[bbymks5]

I'm an only child between my parents, but my dad had two kids from a previous marriage. My half brother passed away last year in a side-by-side accident (we didn't have a relationship) and I don't talk to my half sister either.

 

[IntenseMagic]

I have one sister. She is two years younger than me. We fought a lot when we were little, but when we were teens we were great friends...especially once I got my driver's license and would take her where she wanted to go lol. She got married and had kids before I did and then she changed quite a bit. She got very high-strung and judge-y about things that she herself had done in her younger days. If you asked her about it, she couldn't remember it at all. We pretty much drifted apart. I am super laid back, easy going, go with the flow and she's very much not! Family dinners have always revolved around her regimented schedule. She has suffered from depression for the last several years, but won't talk to me about anything (doesn't want me to know anything) because she says I am so strong and she doesn't want to appear weak... at least that's what she told mom. We are pleasant and friendly, but not super close. I can actually see her house from my house, but we seldom get together.

 

[BevG]

I am the oldest of 6 kids. We were born in all the even years from 1960 to 1970. So me, brother, 3 sisters, little brother. Little brother was not planned for, in fact my mom was on birth control when she got pregnant with him. My brother had been begging for a brother (yeah, with 4 sisters who could blame him), so my parents told him to pray. God answered.

My oldest brother developed cancer and died when he was 26 and I was 28. Seems so very long ago in some ways. My youngest brother lives about a hour away from me. We get along fine, but he was just 8 when I went off to college and then moved away, so we are not close. My 3 sisters live in Michigan, where we grew up. They are closer to each other than I am to them. No hard feelings - just distance makes it hard to stay in touch. My parents moved to NC when my dad retired. So half my family is here and the other half is in Michigan.

I do have a "twin" sister -- born 8 years after me on my birthday. She looks the most like me. My brother that passed away had a birthday just a week before us. --- yeah - 9 months from my parent's wedding anniversary - tee hee.

 

[bestcee]

I am thinking that is because they knew I was lying (always said so on my face

I love that! We used to blame the baby too. They never got too in trouble.

He walked me down the isle when I got married.

That is amazing and sweet! I love it!

There's an age span between a couple of us, but we get along now that we're all adults.

I totally get that. There's some age spans in my family too.

My mom had five kids in five years

Oh my! Imagine the diapers!

Only child in the house!

So you totally relate to my kid!

There is 6.5 years between me and my middle sister and then 14 years between me and my youngest sister.

Your story sounds familiar. There's 3 of us, (well, 4) in 4 years, than 6 years and 2 more, and another 6 and 1 more. I'm 11.5 years older than my sister, and I remember her ruining my nail polish and makeup as a toddler.

One sister unfriended me on Facebook

Sigh. I'm sorry! My sister does that to us all the time. It's obnoxious, and pointless.

I come from such a tiny family. I have one older sister, and only one cousin

Lol! My dad is the youngest of 9 kids - who averaged 6 kids each. My mom is the middle of 6 and I have 14 cousins on her side.

knowing my baby brother waits for me.

I have an angel sister who died of SIDS at 5 months old. I didn't count her above, she makes 9 siblings, because in real life it's weird to say "I have 9 siblings, but one's in heaven". But I love knowing she's waiting for us. I was almost 2 when she died, so we didn't get to know one another on Earth.

My brother had been begging for a brother (yeah, with 4 sisters who could blame him), so my parents told him to pray. God answered.

I love this story! It's so awesome! I hope you scrapped it!

 

[navaja77]

I'm the oldest of 4 kids. 2 younger sisters and a younger brother. My brother is the baby, about 11 years younger than me. He lives with me and my family so we are pretty close. He has been a tremendous help for us especially since we both work and have no other family nearby to help us when we need a 3rd person. We all get together often and my siblings and I are close. We have our differences but always stick together. My dad passed away about 4 years ago so we've worked hard to maintain a bond since it's now just us, our families and my mom. My youngest sister and I are the only ones with kids (5 total) so we try to get together as often as we can so my kids can see their cousins. My DH is the only one with kids so no cousins on his side.

 

[carrie1977]

There is quite the age gap between my oldest and youngest brothers.

My oldest brother is 44.
Then another brother is 42.
Then there is me...40.
Another brother 38.
My sister is 34.
Another brother is 33.
Then the baby is 16. I was 24 when he was born and I was in the hospital room when my mom had him. Not many adults can say they watched their mom give birth. LOL! She was 46 or 47 when he was born.

Edited to add: The first four are from first husband (my father). The 5th and 6th are from her second husband. And, the last is from her current husband.

 

[michelepixels]

I have a sister who is 5.5 years older than me and a brother who is 2.5 years younger than me. We grew up in San Diego. Then I moved to Virginia in 2000 and several years later my sister moved to Texas. My brother still lives in southern CA. And then travel got expensive. So we haven't seen much of each other in the last decade. And we're not very good at keeping in touch. I played more with my brother growing up. I think that's because of the bigger age gap between my sister and me, and the way she matured faster than I did, making the gap seem even bigger. This continued into adulthood, as she had children 10 years before I did.