Ho do you get on with your siblings?

efb

I've 3 of each, 3 older, 3 younger (extreme middle-child syndrome) get on ok with all except the oldest- selfish demeaning b, by times and the youngest, he just doesn't talk to me, and that suits me fine!


The rest is good, very close with my closest sister. So how is your familial relationships?

Boskowski

One younger brother. Couldn't be better. He's a fantastic guy.

seventeen sheep

I also have three of each! I'm second eldest. We all get on grand. I don't know of any family feuds or disagreements. At the same time, I don't consider my siblings my bestest friends. But that's OK. We have each others' backs.

368100

I have 5. 2 sisters and 3 brothers. I'm the youngest boy.

I get on brilliantly with the oldest 3, two brothers and a sister. The brother closest in age to me I just can't seem to fun much in common with, can't undestand it, we get on ok but wouldn't go out of our way to spend time with each other.

The youngest is my sister and we don't speak at all, long drawn out reasons going back years. The rest only barely tolerate her too.

El Weirdo

I have a younger brother and I'm happy to call him my best mate.

qt3.14

Middle child, older brother 4 years older and another 7 years younger.

Used to get on great with older, didn't with younger at all. Now the reverse, barely speak with the older.

KatW4

I have two younger sisters. We get on really well but they are best friends and much closer to each other than with me.

myshirt

All sisters, and I am the youngest.

Didn't work out so well with my mothers clothing policy of hand me downs.... I am male... so, we don't get on.
Plus, when Daddy was doing hard time, I became 'the man' of the family. 15 years old and having to fight chaps 6/7 years older than me to defend my sisters honour such were the character of the gentlemen they got involved with. Bust a few skulls and made a few enemies on the way.

Tilly

Great thanks.

eviltwin

I have three. We were all very close growing up but I'm only in contact with one now. Been that way for years, don't see it ever changing tbh.

Raminahobbin

I have an older brother and 2 younger brothers. We get on pretty well as long as we're not around each other all the time, but I wouldn't call myself 'close' to any of them. Probably get on best with the youngest at the moment, he's the most easy going. Then middle bro- he's the most fun, but we can clash on some things. Then eldest- we're very, very different people.

Kat97

Only child but my relationship with my parents and the rest of my family is quite good.

Penny Tration

I've one older sister and 2 younger.

The eldest - we didn't get along at all as teenagers, but get on very well now. It's brilliant having a nice relationship with her after so long.

Middle sister - she's pretty much my best friend.

Youngest - she's a hormonal teenager, and hasn't been disciplined, so can be a right cnut, but when she's not in a foul mood (so, about 20% of the time), she's lovely to be around.

Aongus Von Bismarck

I have an older sister who I'm close with. We get on well.

I have a younger brother. I wouldn't be that close to the chap. He's rather feckless. Full of harebrained schemes and big ideas that invariably end up with him ringing me looking for a bailout. His latest idea is on becoming a personal trainer. I'm glad to see him excited about it, but I can't help but think that smoking cannabis a few times a week isn't the best way, either from a physical or motivational perspective, in making this the type of reality that will pay his bills.

He's an amiable sort, but a feckless layabout. You can't choose your siblings though.

Peregrine

Not great. We never got on. He moved abroad for college and we never kept in touch. We'd say the odd few sentences to each other every day when he's home two or three times a year.

efb

Kat97 wrote: »

Only child but my relationship with my parents and the rest of my family is quite good.

eh...

The Backwards Man

I have one younger brother. We get on alright although I don't even know his phone number. He does his thing, I do mine.

Rubberchikken

Get on great with my 2 brothers and 2 sisters. All younger than me.
Had 3 older sisters (half really)
Met eldest 2 couple of times (both dead now).
Have never met the other woman.

theteal

2 younger brothers. We don't not get on but in reality we barely speak.

NSAman

Have one older brother, a fantastic guy, proud to call him my brother and best friend.

iusedtoknow

Two sisters and Two brothers (I'm the youngest)

Get on great with 3/4 of them. One (a sister) lives a 2 hour flight away in Vancouver, the other (a brother) a 5 hour flight away in Toronto - iMessage with them both through the day and would probably see them 3 or 4 times a year each, along with the nieces and nephews. But we FaceTime a lot in between.

The other brother lives in London and is great fun and all round good guy, I go out of my way to see him whenever I am back in Europe.

The other sister is a miserable cow living in Dublin that would prefer the rest of us to being as miserable as she is - the less I see of her the better. None of the siblings get on with her.

368100

Good thread. In real life when I mention that I don't speak to my sister I'm normally met with shock, judgement and the usual, "you should try and fix things, she can't be that bad". (She is by the way.
If there was a way I could see us getting on I would try but that ship sailed and sank a long time ago.

Not nice to hear obviously but it's some comfort that I don't seem to be unique in having a sibling that I don't speak to.

ancapailldorcha

My siblings are racist, vile and pig ignorant. My life is enriched by their absence.

Pwindedd

The Backwards Man wrote: »

I have one younger brother. We get on alright although I don't even know his phone number. He does his thing, I do mine.

Same here. We've not a lot in common, live in different countries and rarely speak unless we're both at my parents house - when we are there we get on fine, laughing and joking, but we actually have very little interest in each others lives. It suits us both, although I think my mum wishes we'd converse more outside the parental nest.

happywithlife

Middle child here too! Growing up would have been closer to the younger 3. Very little contact with my eldest sister.
Now it's the opposite. That eldest sister is the one I see / talk to most as she lives nearby. But it's still the sister next to me younger that I get on the most with. The youngest girl is grand but a product of the celtic tiger and can be very immature at times
have 2 brothers that I don't get on with. One is a complete hypocritical b*** *** the other is special needs with "challenging behaviour" so I have minimal contact as he is physically violent

Generally tho us sisters get on great - particularly the oldest 4 of us.

alwaysadub

I have 7 siblings. Get on grand with all of them, don't know the eldest very well really. But wouldn't class any of them as friends as such, wouldn't just call over to them unannounced or go out for a drink for no reason, that type of thing.

Pwindedd

alwaysadub wrote: »

I have 7 siblings. Get on grand with all of them, don't know the eldest very well really. But wouldn't class any of them as friends as such, wouldn't just call over to them unannounced or go out for a drink for no reason, that type of thing.

This seems like the ideal arrangement. I have witnessed first hand how closed off some families or sets of siblings become. Outsiders will usually only be allowed in if they tow the family line.

There's no reason to suspect that just because you share parents you are actually going to really like your siblings as people. If you genuinely do then that's just a bonus. A bit of healthy respect is the minimum required to maintain harmony.

P_1

The Backwards Man wrote: »

I have one younger brother. We get on alright although I don't even know his phone number. He does his thing, I do mine.

Snap, seems like a good enough arrangement, he does his thing, I do mine. Can't remember having a row with the chap once the fun and joy of the teenage years was gotten out of the way mind. Guess general ambivalence is the best kind of sibling relationship to have.

If my experience with siblings is anything to go by there is only one way to get on with them. Move out. The change in the relationship is instant.

If AFTER moving out you are still not getting on - then I can recommend all sorts of things

lukesmom

Have 2 brothers one living one passed over and I have one sister. I get on great with them all.

TheCoolWay

I have zero siblings. I would give anything to experience one.

I know some people are never going to get on but try and make a decent effort. If they don't meet you halfway then after a while don't make the effort any more. Just remember that some people dont get the opportunity to experience that

Reiketsu

I have just the one brother and he is two years older than me. We get along just fine, always have done....except when I came home from the hospital after being born and he had a tantrum demanding I was returned :pac:

boobar

Three brothers and three sisters. Very argumentative family, lots of bitching about each other.

I'm civil to all of them, but have made it clear that I have no interest in bitching about other members of the family.

Turtyturd

Am the eldest and have one of each. Never got along with my sister, she is loud and obnoxious, everything that I can't stand in a person and I can't bring myself to overlook that just because we are family.

Aside from my OH and kids, my brother would be the person I am closest to. Would do anything for him.

KKkitty

6 brothers, 3 sisters and I feel like I don't know where I am with them anymore. Feel awkward around my older siblings now especially.

PizzamanIRL

I'm not a ho. You're a ho.

My name is URL

Two brothers and a sister, all within eight years age-difference wise. We get on fine. No shortage of rows while we all lived under the same roof though. Probably became closer the more we all went on our own ways.

JaseBelleVie

One younger brother. 3 years younger.

We got along great as kids. For sure we had rows and arguments. One that culminated in him running away from home at age 10. He actually went and hid at the bottom of the garden. But I was the one who got in sh*t for it, because I was the one that upset him so much!

We get along very well and he's part of my social circle and I'm part of his. We get along well with each others' friends and (when we have them) other halves.

He's a good guy!

ProudDUB

Youngest of 4. There is a pretty big age gap between me and them, so I wasn't all that close to any of them when I was growing up. They were all off doing their own thing, when I was still playing with my Barbie dolls. Two of them emigrated to the US when I was a teenager. I lived in the US for a good bit too. We get on really, really well for people who have lived thousands of miles apart from each other for decades. We are deservedly proud of that, but the closeness that comes from being a part of each others lives on a daily basis, just isn't there.

I thought I was ok with it. It is what it is and all that. But I moved back home a few years ago & I sometimes watch my cousins (who have always lived here) interact with each other. They give out yards about each other, but there is an innate closeness there, that I really, really envy.

Tail Docker

Two older sisters. They're cnuts. They have one younger brother and reckon he is too.

Frigga_92

I have one brother and one sister.
I do not get on with my brother at all.

I get on okay with my sister. It can be tumultuous at times. We didn't speak from 2008 until 2012. We didn't have a great childhood and we've all got our problems from that.
We are better off living a distance from each other so we don't see each other too much and get on each other's nerves. We see each other every 3 or 4 months and that's fine. We talk everyday though.

I believe that you make your own family and just because you are born into one, it does not make it your only family.

_Whimsical_

TheCoolWay wrote: »

I have zero siblings. I would give anything to experience one.

Me too, you should be able to adopt a sibling
Of course it wouldn't be the same. I'd love to have someone who remembers all the things I do, whose early life is so entertwined with mine that it's part of my own.

Triceratops Ballet

_Whimsical_ wrote:

Me too, you should be able to adopt a sibling  Of course it wouldn't be the same. I'd love to have someone who remembers all the things I do, whose early life is so entertwined with mine that it's part of my own. 

That makes me so sad to read, and so grateful at the same time for my younger sister, 3 years between us and she is and always has been my very best friend, I cant imagine what it would be like not to have that.

ProudDUB

_Whimsical_ wrote: »

Me too, you should be able to adopt a sibling
Of course it wouldn't be the same. I'd love to have someone who remembers all the things I do, whose early life is so entertwined with mine that it's part of my own.

It's not always a given that siblings memories of their parents and their childhoods, are always going to be the same. My 2 older brothers remember a lot of childhood hardship and marital discord while my parents struggled to put food on the table. I was the baby, so when I came along, the rest of the brood had left the nest and things were much more settled, both emotionally and financially. Our different memories of our childhoods left different marks on us & made us all hugely different people.

Mr_Maestro

I'm the eldest of three lads. We get along great. We argue and sometimes it gets heated but we're brothers first and foremost and we never forget that.

RonanP77

I have an older brother, we were never mates but got on alright. It's pretty much the same now, we speak once a month or a bit less.

I have a younger sister too, we were great mates growing up, very close. We still chat every few weeks and can tell each other anything but aren't really mates any more. We still get on well enough but we tend to argue a good bit too, over silly stuff.

Venus In Furs

El Weirdo wrote: »

I have a younger brother and I'm happy to call him my best mate.

Ah that's lubbly.

Neadine

Reading some of these posts are making me feel so accepting and at peace with the entirely disfunctional relationship I have with my sister.
Keep up the good work!

pragmatic1

I have an older brother and an older sister. Me and my brother don't have much in common, but we're both fairly laid back and get on well.

I alternate between getting on well with my older sister and hating her. She's a good person on balance but everything is a competition to her and she can be extremely arrogant.

R.D. aka MR.D

I have one older brother.

We aren't close in a conventional sense. We had a difficult childhood and it made us very protective of each other. He's got my back and I have his. He's one of those quiet farmer types.

The person I'm closest to in my whole family is actually his wife. We speak at least once a week or more now that I'm getting updates on my nephews.

Growing up I always wanted a sister and now I have the best big sister in the world.

RDM_83 again

Deleted User wrote: »

If my experience with siblings is anything to go by there is only one way to get on with them. Move out. The change in the relationship is instant.

If AFTER moving out you are still not getting on - then I can recommend all sorts of things

I always got on OK with my brothers but when we're all back in the family home for an extended period it can get shouty.
Get on really well with them though even when we have lived together outside of home. Love the fact we can meet up and chat sh*t till 7am over drinks (having seen siblings that get on well until alcohol is involved).