On siblings and love

Did you know today is National Siblings Day? In honor of the holiday, I thought I would share some thoughts on siblings and love.

Siblings: Talking About My Generation

I am one of 5 children, all born relatively close in age and all unusually close. Growing up, there was always someone to play with and although we fought like brothers and sisters do, our fights were short-lived and we all made up easily. During different times in my life I’ve alternated who I’ve been closest with, and because of this I have developed a strong bond with every single one of them.

Throughout the years we’ve all chosen to live relatively close together {although this won’t be true for long – sob, sob}, and we’ve chosen to remain friends even through the ups and downs of childhood, teenage years, and now into adulthood. When something big happens, they are the first people I turn to. And, when one of them needs me, I will drop everything to help.

Three of my siblings have children of their own, ranging in age from 17 to 8 months. Nothing makes me happier than seeing my children play with my siblings’ children less like cousins and more like friends or siblings themselves. I feel incredibly blessed to live in such a big, happy family with cousins, aunts, uncles, and grandparents who see each other for more than just the holidays.

Siblings: The Next Generation

This sibling love has never been more clear to me than with my own children. The love that they have for each other seriously melts my heart, and it brings me so much joy to see them growing up together.

Don’t hate me right now, but my kids are currently playing together happily in the backyard devising different games and scenarios and entertaining themselves for hours. They do this almost every afternoon when they are reunited after my daughter gets home from school, and they continue to play together nicely until bedtime.

What’s my secret? I HAVE NO IDEA.  I wish I could tell you I had a brilliant system in place for making them play this well together, but I honestly think it was dumb luck combined with complementary personalities and shared interests. That, and my oldest is a natural-born mother and is just the right amount of bossy and playmate. She was made to be an older sister and has the patience of a saint when dealing with her brother as well as her new baby sister.

As for him, he adores his older sister and looks up to her as the authority on everything, which she loves. He is willing to play just about anything she dreams up, and as such he has developed a similarly rich imagination to play along with her. Whether they are playing trucks and LEGOS or dolls and dress up, he is happy as can be because they are together.

It’s not that they don’t squabble or get on each other’s nerves every once in a while, it’s just that the bad moments are few and far between. When they do start bickering, I simply insist that they are not allowed to play together for a specified time period and it’s the worst punishment ever. Then, when they are allowed to play together again, they are so happy to be together again that the only squeals I hear are ones of happiness.Best friends.

I know them being best friends may not last forever, but I’m grateful that they have been close for as long as they have, through all sorts of different stages. I know there will be times in the future that my daughter won’t want her little brother tagging along to everything, or my son will find boys his age in the neighborhood and they will go their separate ways, but for now, I’m just so happy that they have each other.

And, for now they are so much happier together than apart. Going to different schools isn’t fun and exciting like you’d imagine – instead it’s heartbreaking when they say goodbye to each other as if they won’t see each other in just a few short hours.

Having been exceptionally close to my siblings growing up as well, I’m so happy to see my children’s relationship develop into what it is today. I hope that their bond only grows stronger as they get older and they remain close into adulthood as me and my sisters and brother did. It will be interesting to see how their relationship changes now that they have a baby sister to play with as well. So far, they simply adore their baby and eat up all the fun things that come with having a newborn – all the snuggles, all the attention when we’re out and about, and all the things that are “new” with a new baby. My wish for them is that their relationship only deepens and grows as they grow up together and the three of them become best of friends throughout their whole lives.

There’s something so special about having a built-in best friend who understands you on a level no one else can, and I feel triple-blessed that I’m getting to experience this love again in the next generation of siblings and cousins.

Happy National Siblings Day to everyone who has a special sibling {or two, or three, or four…} in their lives!