One loose stereotype I've noticed is that siblings are almost always portrayed as hating each other. In movies there's always that one kid who's abused by his or her older siblings, and as much as I'd like to joke that I can relate to that, it's simply not true. If you can't tell from the fact that we're blogging together, me and my sisters are pretty damn tight.
Sure, we have our rough moments, and when we do fight it's often a doozy. If you went through one hundred families, though, I think that our sibling group would be near the top of the sibling-love charts. We help each other out when one of us is feeling down. We enjoy each others company. We can work on projects together, we can tell each other things. So this one goes out to you, Julia and Laura; thanks for being awesome.
I thought that a good way to show how our sibling friendship developed would be to go back to where it all started. Now, I know that for the first couple years of my life I was not liked too much. I was a tattle-tail. Julia taunted me by calling me "Mackeldore," and Laura would join in on Julia's schemes. I'd mess with their Barbies. They'd make me cry for various reasons. Yes, all in all it was a parasitic relationship where both animals leach off one another.
And then came the turning point, in at least me and Laura's relationship. It all started, perhaps pathetically, when Laura started to bring me out to second cup and buy me free hot chocolate.
That was the day that I learned that sisters really could be good for some things. I more or less reformed my ways, they more or less reformed their ways, and the rest is history.
As I grow older, I learn that there are, shockingly, more benefits to having siblings then free hot chocolate. There are so many things I couldn't do without them! To list just a few advantages of siblings...
- You can ask your siblings awkward questions that you wouldn't want to ask your parents.
- As a boy, I learned a fair bit about females from having sisters, rather then having to try to observe the mysterious cliques of girls at school for information. That brings up another, unrelated point; why do girls always move in packs at school? I'll have to ask my sisters that next time I see them!
- You know people that understand you. Sad to say, I've never really felt like any friend at school truly gets me. My sisters, on the other hand, have seen me developing my views since I was a day old, and have themselves shaped many of them. I'd say with certainty that they know me better then anyone else in this world does.
- Speaking of friends, your siblings can become in many ways your best friends. I'd much rather spend an afternoon doing something fun with my two sisters then spend an afternoon with two friends. Perhaps it's because I know many of the ins and outs of my sisters, whereas my friends can still seem strange at times.
So thank you, Julia and Laura, for being you. Thank you for being my siblings and mentors. Thanks for being awesome.
Happy siblings day.
-Mark
Oh, Mark! I love you so much. :)
ReplyDeleteTwo things to say in response:
1. How big are these packs? I remember the packs of "popular" kids and always assumed it was a weird social thing. As for me, I'd always just travel with a friend (or friends, depending on who was around) because it's more fun and also a bit safer. When you walk alone you can feel lonely and can be an easy target for bullies. Maybe that's why? I think it provides them with a certain image of "oh, I have so many friends! I am so cool."
2. Darling Mark, you may have trouble fitting in with some people your own age because you're an old soul. You have a beautiful innate wisdom that other people probably don't understand because they never think past crushes and the size of their waistlines. You're also beautifully unconcerned with many aspects of culture that other people obsess over at your age, like popularity and other such things. In short, you're too mature. Sometimes, Julia and I think you're wiser than both of us, and that's a good thing! People may not appreciate it yet, but I think they will.