My siblings and I make a point to come together for various holidays for mom and Mike.
Sometimes, there are a few extra visits from them just thrown in all willy-nilly.
And, to be honest, it’s always the same sort of experience once we reach the 48-hour mark.
I’ve discovered that my brother and I are too much alike most of the time and we’re constantly getting on each other’s nerves.
It’s even rarer for my sister and me to fight than it is for us to gang up on my brother and pester him relentlessly because he is the youngest of us and the only boy.
We definitely enforce the sister bond more than the overall sibling bond.
Plus, it’s always been that way!
For as long as I can remember, my sister was my first best friend and has remained so throughout my life whereas my relationship with my brother has always been a bit strained since the moment he learned what the word ‘no’ meant.
Don’t get me wrong, I’ll fight to the death to protect him but on a nearly hourly basis, we’re always snarking at each other or nit-picking enough to drive mom up the wall.
Those moments aren’t my
finest and I do strive to take the high road as the eldest, but, sometimes I just want to throw my brother in the pool!
And despite how mom wishes we’d all just grow up and be sweet and loving to each other all the time, I have to remind her that we just aren’t built that way.
Seeing other sibling groups that are decades older than us just sort of cements it further.
The more siblings you have, the more chances for problems to arise if we’re cooped up together.
We get along for the most part, but, we’ll never be perfectly content and just the kind of siblings to hold hands and sing “Kumbaya” or something like that.
We all have strong opinions, loud voices, and pretty much no filters – so, we’re testing decibel limits indoors pretty regularly.
Not to mention, I’m sure our neighbors hear us if we’re arguing with each other by the pool.
I count myself lucky sometimes after a particularly stressful sibling visit that they each get to head to their own homes in McKinney and Bryan – you know, just far enough to make an actual road trip out of range but close enough that they can come home for family emergencies.
Don’t get me wrong, I’ love my siblings and am always grateful for having them in my life – even when I haven’t seen them for a few months.
And there’s always that initial bit of excitement that eventually gives way to annoyance.
Still, I know that we’re really there for each other when it counts!
I mean, as long as it doesn’t include a lot of manual labor, money, or pretending to be someone we’re not.
Overall, we try to be on our best behavior for a few days before driving each other crazy.
Or, at least that’s what my sister and I try to do.
My brother is a different story altogether and knows all the wrong ways to get my attention.
While I enjoy their brief visits after the fact, there’s nothing quite like getting my calm back by being the only one here.
Plus, I think my mom enjoys having less stress at the end of it all, too.
Though I doubt she’ll say that out loud!
