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Brothers and Sisters - friends or foes?

Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
Hello everyone :wave:

I met my housemates sister quite recently, they were going on holiday to Italy together - and I felt incredibly envious of them! I could never imagine going to the cinema with my brother, let alone on holiday!

I know we don't all have great relationships with our brothers and sisters, and I haven't seen anything on here about them, so I wondered if anyone else had this sort of level of friendship with their siblings - to the point you liked them enough to go on holiday together?

I'll be honest, my brother and I have the less-is-more relationship - even though we are only 18 months apart in age. Since I moved out - and we see each other once in every couple of months - we get on so much better. We don't actually do anything together - because our interests are so different - but he does ask me for relationship advice now! :)

I was reading this article in The Guardian about two brothers who didn't speak to each other for 10 years:

http://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2010/may/15/sibling-rivalry-brothers-family

- and it got me thinking - what are other people's relationships like with their brothers and sisters? Do they sometimes wish they had a brother instead of a sister? Do they like being an only child? If you feel like sharing your thoughts, it'd be great to know what you guys think :)

Comments

  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Hi there,

    I just wanted to fly past and share a little,

    I've got one older brother who's now 23 and two younger twin sisters who are 12.

    When I was little both me and my brother where never done fighting, but now we are really close, despite him living in Scotland and me in Ireland. When he moved to Scotland it broke my heart. I still don't talk about him moving away cause I cry.

    My younger sisters however, that's a different story I don't get along with them very well. My parents favor my younger sisters over me, and have done all their life, that's just the way they work I guess.

    I hope this helps a little.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    My bigger sister is 2 years older than me and we've been playing with each other, watching telly together etc in our childhood. Then came puberty and we kinda developed differing interests. When we moved to the bigger apartment and had our own rooms we basically were just two people living in the same flat. When my sister moved out she also struggled with depression. Every boyfriend had to be "the one" or else she'd fall into deep despair. She wanted kids and family and all that too soon for her bfs. Whenever I heard from my sister then it was usually criticism and I just didn't want any of that.

    My younger sister is 7 years younger than me and I could never relate. Today I regret not spending more time with her and avoiding her when she was reaching out to me, but I was an awkward and embarrassed teenager. I wish I helped mold her into a person I'd be proud to call my sister, but she just hung with the wrong crowd (shitty music, fake tan, ignorance being cool, basically superficial people), dropped out of school had a bunch of non-lasting relationships and is becoming a nurse and is a mother since April.

    I have nothing in common with my sisters. We get along good enough on family functions, but it would not be far off to say we are estranged.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    I have one sister and two brothers, all older than me!

    My sister and I are inseparable :heart: not too long ago we did actually speak about going away together with my nephew, just us three. I was the one she told when she found out she was pregnant. I went and stayed at hers when I broke up with my ex and was a mess. We talk everyday about absolutely anything. I couldn't imagine not having my sister.

    My two brothers live quite far away so I don't see them much but we talk a lot :)
    I remember when one of my brothers was going through depression, he wanted to talk to me.
    My other brother survived cancer, that was the most awful thing ever watching him go through that but he's strong and he fought it and since then we see him a lot more.

    Things happen that I wish didn't have to happen but everything has bought us all closer together. I love all of my siblings and I love being an auntie to my sisters beautiful boy :heart:
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    In the middle child, brother 3 years older, passed away a few years ago. sister, 4 years younger.

    Of course we all fought when we were kids like you do but got on well enough. Like butterly, me and my sister are inseparable as well, our room are next to each other so we chat through the wall, go on weekends away together, do everything. Ive actually been struggling since shes had a boyfriend and doesnt have as much spare time.

    When my brother died i was 16, he was 18 so we werent very close, both in awkward teenage mode more interested in friends and relationships etc and i really regret the fact that i didnt go and see him alot when he was in the hospital. I like to think though that if he was still here we would have gotten past that and be just as close as me and my sister.

    Family is big thing in, well my family and i couldnt imagine not being very close with them
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    I have a sister aged 2,sister aged 7,brother aged 10,twin sisters aged 16...all younger than me!I am the oldest of 6!!! :/ x

    They can be GOOD and BAD siblings :):( x
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Hey :wave:

    Thank you for sharing :) - it's really interesting to see what other people's relationships are like with their brothers and sisters! I think that everyone is different, and it's natural to compare...I guess that sometimes we always want what we don't have - I'd always wanted a sister - because I felt I might be a bit closer to them, as my brother and I are so completely different. It looks fighting when we were younger is quite a common theme!

    It's really positive to see that there are some great family ties around, and these are so useful and invaluable, especially when life gets a bit hard. It's great to have someone you can lean on.

    Even if the relationships aren't that close, there's always lots of other sources of support you can reach out to - other family members or close friends, or on here :)
  • BubblesGoesBooBubblesGoesBoo Posts: 3,590 Community Veteran
    I have 2 brothers that i'm not allowed to see ... and a Sister thats moved away ... me and my sister are close, but we do have our fall outs ... we were always there for each other growing up cause of all the shit that happened with our parents, it was good we didnt go through it alone
    ' So I put a bullet where I shouda put a helmet, and I crash my car cause I wanna get carried away, that's why I'm standing on the overpass screaming at myself 'hey, I wanna get better''  
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    I'd be lost without my sisters. They're a lot older than me (like..more than 20 years) and while I was growing up, one of them was more of a mother than a sister to me, because my parents were a bit strange and distant. Then she left when I was about 6 or something and I felt a bit abandoned but once I became a teenager I realised that she was her own person and completely got over that feeling. I know my relationship with both of them is never really going to be 'equal' given the age gap, which I feel a bit bad about - in terms of supporting each other, I have nothing useful to say apart from cuddles and consolation about husbands, children, money and things like that, whereas they have helped and supported me a lot through of chaos that's I've created/suffered from. When the three of us are together I know I'm the odd one out - they share a childhood and all I share with them is blood, but it's nice to have someone that completely understands my weird family. In turn, though, I spend a lot of time with my little nieces and nephew, with a similar relationship to what my sisters had with me at that age, so I suppose what goes around, comes around.

    My dad rarely talks to his little brother and that makes me really sad.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    I have one sister and we're twins. Due to experiences in our childhood we relied on each other quite heavily in different ways. However we grew apart when I became unwell and had frequent admissions into hospital. We fought and stopped being close as she couldn't understand why I was unwell and had to be in hospital for months at a time and I guess it hurt her as she felt powerless. But now I'm at a rehab unit and she's going to uni, she'll be living ten mins away and I have a feeling we'll grow close again. I have always said my twin sister is the only one with the power to truly hurt me. But I love her.

    Sent from my KFTT using Tapatalk
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