Brothers/sisters

Galwayguy35

Ok saw this elsewhere about sisters and I was just wondering how the lads here get on with yer brother(s).

I have one older brother, we get on ok and would see each other about once a week but we live our own lives and probably wouldn't be classed as that close.

Reading the other thread I think it seems sisters ofton seem to have a lot closer bond.

Sleepy

I have one brother who's 7 years younger than me. We don't see each other too often as I'm a married with kids IT worker in Dublin whilst he's no kids and is a drummer in a band based in Galway but we'd make the effort to have a couple of pints whenever we visit Galway. He's the baby of the family and everyone's favourite, I'm the eldest and, in many ways, the black sheep.

Would be nice to see more of each other, and I'd say we would if we lived in the same town.

My sister is closer in age, just under 2 years younger and we've hung around with the same group of friends (of which her now husband is/was part) since we were teenagers. We're not "close" because we're very, very different people and live on opposite coasts but we get along fine for the most part (she has the infuriating habit of knowing exactly where the jugular is and going for it in arguments!).

GalwayGuy2

Can you change it to brothers/sisters?

Not just PC gone mad, but it would be interesting to see the relationships that some posters have with their sisters.

shanered

Maybe we should change the name of the forum to gentleman and gentleladies also! :-P

Galwayguy35

GalwayGuy2 wrote: »

Can you change it to brothers/sisters?

Not just PC gone mad, but it would be interesting to see the relationships that some posters have with their sisters.

Done.

knucklehead6

Two sisters, one brother.

Not at all close to the brother, purely geographical and age reasons. He's 6 years older and on the other side of the world for the past 20 years.
When he comes home we do get on ok, but we don't really know each other anymore.

I get on ok with both sisters but i'm the only one still living in the home town.

Sephiroth_dude

I have 4 brothers and 1 sister,I have 3 brothers living abroad who I get on very well with and have a laugh with when they come home,my brother living at home here with I don't get on well with at all,we hardly speak to each other anymore which upsets me at times because I looked up to him when I was younger,he got me into rock/metal at an early age,he has his problems and hes just not interested in talking to anyone or getting help.I'm very close to my older sister too,we do a lot of things together,hillwalking,cinema,going to the pub etc

helimachoptor

1 younger brother by 6 & a half years, our dad died a few months before he was born so growing up i was trying to help him and not have him repeat any of the mistakes i made however we had a few run ins during his teenage years when he thought i was too over-bearing.

We were never that close really due to that however my mam has always said to us is (despite having a big extended family) that when she dies it will be just the 2 of us and i think that definitely resonates with my brother as he's younger and would likely outlive me all things equal.

However he had a child and i think that has definitely helped our relationship over the last few years

Pawwed Rig

I have three brothers. I see two of them every weekend for our 5K runs and usually hang around for coffee and a chat afterwards. I see the third one pretty regularly aswell.
Probably get on better with the brothers than the sisters but we never really fight as a family. Family got alot friendlier with each other one everyone turned 30 and settled a bit.

Barna77

I have two brothers, both older than me. I don't get on very well with the eldest (7 years older), and when we see each other sooner or later there's some tension between us.
On the other hand, always have a laugh with the middle one (2 years older than me). We had our differences but it's all well gone now.

ongarboy

2 brothers and 3 sisters - thankfully I get on with all of them but would definitely be closer to some rather than others. We're scattered across 3 continents and those of us in Ireland across 4 counties so none of us live near eachother so I see them only every couple of months and less with the ones abroad (which I wish wasn't the case but it always makes the rare weekends, Christmas, occasions etc all the more special when we all meet up back at the folks (who live in yet a different county again! ).

While I could go months without talking to some of my siblings, it doesn't really matter as the second we do talk on the phone, it's like we just pick up where we left off.

I find some of my friends in Dublin who have their entire extended family living within the Pale do not have that same sense of family appreciation or are more likely to be indifferent to occasions like Christmas etc as a result. Even though they see their family daily or weekly, I think I prefer my relationship overall as it's much better to indifference.

When we were children/teenagers, I thought we were the worst, most quarrelsome siblings in the world who would never like eachother - funny how maturity changes all that.

bnt

Long story with which I'm not going to bore you. I started off with one biological elder sister, then picked up two more step-sisters and two more step-brothers at the age of 13. Never really got on with the original sister, who got knocked up and ran away at age 16. Of the step-siblings, I got on with the elder step-brother OK, the younger one hated me from day one. The elder step-sister was indifferent, only the younger step-sister seemed to try to be a real sister amd friend to me - and she died in 1998, so that was that. I'm not in touch with any of them.

czechlin

In regards siblings I am the luckiest girl in the whole world. I've got two brothers, I'm in the middle. I adore them both. And they spoil me rotten, with love

The little brother is many years younger (he was a surprise) and I miss not being around so much to see him how he's growing up but we keep in touch trough Skype and all and I am trying to be a good big sister. Seeing his sad face is breaking my heart every time I'm leaving home. I don't think anybody else can make me feel so guilty.

My big brother and me are very close. He's not just a brother, he's a best friend too. He knows me like no one else and we genuinely have the biggest laughs together. Of course we used to have fights as kids and he was a bit of an arsehole at times (he's 7 years older) but when things get tough we always stick together. He was always there for me, no matter how silly I was but when sh1t hit the fan he's always been there. My mum told me that he couldn't wait for me to be born and when they brought me home he was the happiest kid on the block. He loved me from day one and I have a lot to thank him for

Playboy

3 brothers and we are best mates and likely always will be. Never understood how siblings aren't close, maybe its an age gap thing?

eviltwin

2 brothers and 1 sister, no contact with my sister or one brother at all by mutual consent, okay relationship with the remaining brother only because he is married to a close friend of mine.

Jhcx

I have 1 brother and 2 Sisters. i never really get to see them. or hang with them. They are half family which makes me the odd one out. kinda hurts because somewhere i would like to have brothers and sisters. but to have them and not know who they are growing up is bit sad. Cause their just people i know.

osaurus

I'm the eldest. Have one brother and one sister.

My brother is 4 years younger than me. We were relatively close growing up. Fairly standard, no big brawls or fights until his 21st. Didn't speak for 7 months. Sorted it out eventually. Not much happened until about a year ago. Was getting fairly pudgy so he dragged me to the gym and coaxed me and trained me basically. We grew really close as a result. We sometimes head out together. More often than not we just grab a few beers and arse about on the xbox playing dark souls. We're at that stage in a friendship where we could sit in a room and not talk but be perfectly content.

My sister is 6 years younger than me. She just finished college today actually. Very proud. We aren't as close but I'm making a conscious effort to be more receptive. She also lives away from home which makes it a bit more difficult. I collected her last week and brought her for a nice lunch because I know she was stressed due to exams. She has a while yet to develop into her own person but that comes in time. She just wandered in the door there. Cutting this short to congratulate her.

They're both good eggs to be fair.

Richard Hillman

1 brother, 1 Sister, 1 shared hatred of the two of them. I hate the brother more than the sister but wouldn't bother making conversation with either.

Hollister11

2 brothers, who I love. I am only 18 and the youngest is 13 so I'll see them everyday for the best 7/8 years or so. When I move out and we all get on with our lives I hope we stay close as I couldn't imagine life without them.

My mam doesn't get on with here brother and my dad gets in with 1/3 so I hope that doesn't happen to us.

Lou.m

I have a brother He is the greatest brother ever. We are very close. I am a girl. We have lots of mutual friends. We hang out and confide in each other he is a great person.

_Kaiser_

No bothers, 1 younger sister. We don't get on. Very different people and were it not for my mother we probably wouldn't talk at all.

beertons

_Kaiser_ wrote: »

No bothers, 1 younger sister. We don't get on. Very different people and were it not for my mother we probably wouldn't talk at all.

Same with me. She lives about a 5 minute drive from me too. And godmother to my eldest. I thought she'd change a bit with the godmother role, still the same.

holystungun9

I think age difference can play a big in relationships. I'm the youngest and with my siblings being 7,9 and 11 years older. I guess I was the surprise or the last ditch effort for another. We get on fine but for example when I was born my sis was not far off going into secondary school.
Big gap between my folks and me too which at times makes me think we are from different worlds.

ancapailldorcha

Playboy wrote: »

3 brothers and we are best mates and likely always will be. Never understood how siblings aren't close, maybe its an age gap thing?

I'm the eldest in my family. My 2 brothers and 1 sister were born at 2 year intervals. I knew when I left home for the UK that I'd not be keeping in touch. I barely speak to them during the obligatory bi-annual trip home and I've no inclination to speak to them whatsoever.
I find the idea of being close to one's family to be foreign to be honest.

efb

I've 3 of each. My eldest brother is hardworking and sensible and a great role model - we get on OK, wouldn't be going for pints together but good relationship, often go to rugby together
I have a sister that is my rock and confidant she has been v good to me.

The only one I don't get on with is my youngest brother, him being the youngest got his way with everyone and has quite an attitude now.

All in all I think I've a good relationship with my siblings

Starokan

I get on pretty well with my two brothers and sisters, they would have closer relationships with each other than I would but I was abroad for a long time which would have contributed to this.

For me it works well by visiting here and there, I'm lucky to have a great family but whenever I spend any longer than a day or two at home I tend to get a bit angry/annoyed, no idea why , it kind of upsets me that I feel this way, they don't deserve it , hence I find it best to make short visits as often as I can where we can all get along really well.

Dial Hard

I've two of each, I'm the youngest, and we all live in eachother's pockets. We go on holidays most years as a family (along with my folks, various other halves and 8 nieces & nephews) and if we don't do a family holiday there'll be at least one long weekend in shared houses somewhere in Ireland.

We go out for dinner/drinks at least once a week too. I know it's some people's idea of hell on earth, spending that much time with family, but it's totally normal for us. In fact, I bought my first house with one of my sisters and live with the other one now.

Soft Falling Rain

Sephiroth_dude wrote: »

I have 4 brothers and 1 sister,I have 3 brothers living abroad who I get on very well with and have a laugh with when they come home,my brother living at home here with I don't get on well with at all,we hardly speak to each other anymore which upsets me at times because I looked up to him when I was younger,he got me into rock/metal at an early age,he has his problems and hes just not interested in talking to anyone or getting help.I'm very close to my older sister too,we do a lot of things together,hillwalking,cinema,going to the pub etc

I know you said your brother is struggling with issues so it's understandable that your relationship is strained but you raised an interesting general point about brothers in the same house. I'm the youngest of 7 brothers, and I have found that we would bicker and be at each others throats regularly enough. But once they started to move out, and we got our space from each other, I found we became much better friends and well, brotherly. The less you see someone the more you appreciate them.

Maturity plays a role too I think, as everyone gets older I think you learn to appreciate other more and not to fall out over stupid sh1t.

I'm very lucky in the relationship I have with all my brothers as I know other families struggle and siblings become long term estranged.

One tip I'd give people is never get into a gripe when locked with siblings OR friends, especially over other halfs.