What's it like to have siblings?

My sister is 66 years old, and my brother is 69 years old. They don't speak to me, and i have nothing to do with them--which is a blessing, i assure you.

I never had a sister; one brother, whom I hardly remember, just died in April. He didn't have much to do with the family, and I had to pay for the funeral (Got me again, Buddy!!)

My girlfriend (age 67) turns into a hopeless, shy 9 year old when she gets together with her 2 other sisters. Pitiful.

I have no siblings, but grew up with cousins and friends and an extended family and we had lots of fun together and still the ones that are left laught a lot of good old memeories.
I never missed siblings.

I don't like my siblings all that much. First of all, when we were kids, they were always telling me that they were better than me because that's what my mother told them. I don't blame them for hearing it, but I do blame them for believing it. My oldest sister, Carol, was the worst. She did awful things to me. When I was four years old she called me over to the swing and said there was something stuck in the barrel of my cork gun and that her finger was too big to get it out. She got me to stick my little finger in the barrel. Little did I know that she had already cocked it. Then she pulled the trigger. The bolt that slams forward to pop the cork out slammed into the end of my little finger. That bitch. Then there was the time she told me to blow out an alleged hot ash that was in my mother's full ashtray. Ever try to get cigarette ashes out of your eyes? That bitch.

She once made me eat a salt sandwich--heavy on the salt, hold the bread! Then she wouldn't let me have any water. And on the advice of my other sisters, she put my winter coat on me, tied my hands behind my back, and staked me out to a small dead tree in an open field beside our property under the hot sun (it was mid-July). Then she and the rest of my siblings sat under the big shade tree at the edge of our yard and drank kool-aid in front of me for two hours, though it felt like four. They all got up and ran to the house when they saw my mother's car coming down the road. She was coming home from work.

After going in the house, she came back out and hollered for me. I hollered back so she could come help me. When she saw me, she walked out to where I was staked, and the first thing she said was, "What in the hell do you think you're doing out here in your god damned winter coat? Get that coat off for christ sake, it's the middle of summer. What the hell's wrong with your head?" I rolled over to show her that my hands were tied behind my back and that I was tied to the dead tree.

"Who told you you could play with that god damned rope?" she barked. "And now you went and got yourself all tangled up, didn't you? How stupid can you be, boy?"

I finally cracked. "Carol did this to me," I screamed. "And the others helped."

She walked over to me, leaned down and slapped me hard in my face, which created a colorful rainbow around my head because of all the sweat that splattered into the air, which proved to me that there's beauty in even the worst of circumstances if you just open your eyes to it. "If you hadn't gotten your hands all tangled up in that rope, you would have been able to block that slap," she said mockingly. "But you went and got yourself all tangled up, you little dumb ass."

I was crying, and the tears were mixing with all the sweat, making my eyes sting really bad. "No!" I cried. "The others did this to me."

"Why you little son of a bitch," she screamed. "You gonna lay there and accuse your brothers and sisters of something they didn't do when they're not here to stick up for themselves?"

"I'm not lying!" I pleaded.

"Shut up!" she hollered. Then she said, "That's it! You're going to bed without supper right now."

I said, "Well can I have some water first?"

She got a twisted little smile on her face, and said, "I don't think so."

Man was I disappointed to hear that. I then asked her if she would at least untie my hands so that I could pee. I really had to go.

"Nope," she said as she untied the rope from the tree. Then she shoved me from behind all the way to the house like a ******* prisoner, "And you better not pee your pants either, or I'll slap the other side of your face so that both sides match."

I don't know what happened after that. The last thing I remember before passing out was seeing the faces of my siblings pressed against the living room window, all wearing big grins.

There's a family reunion coming up in June, and I'm thinking about not going. If I do go, it will be only for the purpose of lacing the cheesecake I'll bring with lots of ex-lax. Lots of it!

Bmark

I have seven siblings, possibly eight.

Seven of us were allowed the freedom of the East Wing, and one was confined to the West Wing apart from birthdays and Christmas dinner, as long as the local Constable could be in attendance, just in case of trouble.

There is a rumour that an eighth sibling resided in the servant's quarters, and was the result of Father catching the parlour maid unawares as she polished the dining room floor.

Refreshing to hear so many adults state they really aren't close to their siblings.

I'm not either.

None of my immediate family, including my parents, were people I would ever choose to associate with.

So I don't.

I had eleven siblings. Nine are half siblings. Four are dead. My relations with the survivors runs a gamut from freezing to hot. No matter the problems we have, I would choose to have siblings over being an only child.

Why edgar?

my mother was one of seven sisters

she hated it so much I was an only child - she didn't want to subject anyone else to the sibling experience

I've seen a few cases of good sibling relationships, but generally I'm ok with my mother's decision

as a babysitter I witnessed some kids doing awful things to their siblings. I had to separate a lot of kids for doing some pretty brutal stuff

I love some of them as much as myself. Certain ones I could do without.
edit
They are not here to defend themselves. I don't plan to get specific.

fair enough.

I wasn't meaning to be contrary. I was thinking how if all your siblings were ones you didn't get along with, would you feel the same.

You're right though. Each one is a person in their own right.

I guess I would just wish they were someone elses siblings.

Oh, and I certainly don't want to know specifics.

I realized at some point what sounded bad to me and where I was certain times in my life never translated well to others.

my sister and i had many battles growing up, but as adults we have managed to develop
a caring and mutual respect -- to the surprise of both of us...

That sounds AWFUL! I'm so sorry your sister treated you so badly. What mother would think their child would willingly stand outside in a winter coat with their hands behind their back? I'm glad to be an only child!

My gosh - these stories make my brothers (and me too) look like angels. I was the only girl in the middle of 3 other brothers. It had its good moments and bad ones. There were our moments of teasing and not liking one another - think about it this way --- you live with these other creatures all vying for your parents attention -- yeah there will be fights. And some you get along with more than others. You are different individuals forced to live with one another and sometimes in close quarters.

I did things like told my younger brother (while he was drinking a coke with a straw) put the straw up your nose and breathe in -- why the heck he listened to me is beyond me but he did.

I told my other younger brother to dump a bucket of water on my dad while he took a nap --- why the heck he would do that is beyond me -- but he did and he got heck to pay for that.

But they got me back to --- imagine going on date and what your younger brother will tell this date. Stuff like that --- I kind of look at it as fun times now.

The one thing though we might fight and scream at each other - but no one else could - we would have each other's back.

Oh and my daughters are like that. They are 4 years apart and they fight like crazy. But they would be there for each other if anyone caused the other grief. There are times when they seem so loving, and others like they cannot stand each other. They call each other terrible names. It is almost like they could say and do anything to each other, but still love each other. Really odd at times.

I am sure you know by now that I study prosocial and antisocial psychopathy and that you also know that I love to ask questions, So why is it that you think you have been so blessed?

Leaving aside the hilarity of your claim, why is it that you think i would answer you?

Because you are such a kind and caring person? And that I know you have better things to do but you find it to be entertaining to engage people in the way that you do.