Sibling revelry
The joy of being the older sister of the family
When I was a little girl, I was always pretty lonely. Though my parents, aunts and grandparents always made a point to play with me, I was still the only child in our family. I couldn’t shake the longing for someone around my age to play with all the time — not just another kid from the McDonald’s PlayPlace I’d never get to see again.
When I was 5, that wish of someone who stayed to play was granted through my Nina, or godmother, when my godbrother was born. He is biologically my cousin, but through our religion, he is my brother because our parents each baptized the other’s child. Along with our parents being each other’s Nina and Nino, we became “god-siblings.” Or how my brother puts it: “not quite a cousin, not quite a sister,” when referring to our relationship.
Getting the chance to be an older sibling, while at times challenging, has become a key part of my identity as I grow up. The best part about it is getting to watch younger siblings grow and become individuals in their own sense.
My brother is 9 now, and the years have gone by in a flash, from being with him for his first word to his baseball games. Sometimes it feels like just recently I was there on the couch, staring at the photo of my newborn brother on a phone screen. But now he’s actually a fourth grader who loves Mario Kart. Though I’m extremely proud of the gentleman he is becoming, it’s hard sometimes to watch him grow up. I know there are things I won’t be able to protect him from, though I’ll still try, as he becomes more aware of the world and the power his voice and views hold.
In some moments, watching him grow up tugs on my heart strings, and in the next, it’s making me the proudest person I’ll ever be. Like watching how quickly he can do math, or how outgoing he is. He is constantly surprising me with new things he is working on in his artwork and new hobbies he finds to engage in. For instance, he currently loves video games like Roblox, Zelda, Pokémon and Mario Kart. He will spend hours upon hours talking about them in great detail, and follow up the conversation with drawings of each character — detailing their pros and cons.
When I was 10 years old, that wish for a friend happened again when my Nina had a little girl. Though my brother and I have a stronger relationship, the one I have with my 4-year-old sister is strong as well. From helping her make food for herself, to teaching her directions and letters, I’ve gotten to see how very bright and amazingly caring she is.
She is interested in baking cookies, picorns (unicorns), bittybugs (ladybugs) and ballet. She is always surprising me with how caring she is: making sure that everyone gets a cookie (especially herself ), always concerned with making sure no one gets spooked by Halloween decorations. Just like her brother, she loves crafts as well.
The three of us do craft projects often with things we can find around our grandparents’ house. I’ve made many paintings and chalk illustrations with them, designed structures out of sticks in the backyard, and spent time drawing with paper and pens.
Though being their older sister comes with many gloryful moments, there are also many challenging moments, some of them chaotic or overwhelming. Sometimes we get into fights, which are usually solved once the topic of food or ice cream is brought up. Other times
I get overwhelmed as we go from errand to errand while one or both of them remains excited and loud the whole time — just happy to be on an adventure. As long as the adventure is exciting enough — because ones that take too long in the car or only include the grocery store can be upsetting.
I’m always facing the pressure to set a good example for them and be the perfect older sister they deserve. Many moments have taught me more about how to conduct myself: like when I forget to pack a bigger snack and water bottle for my sister when we go on adventures to town, even though she swore she wasn’t hungry before we left. Or when I stood there like a deer in headlights as my brother made friends with the front desk lady at the hotel during a vacation.
Either way I adore them and love them to bits. They are my siblings, my bunny and my bee.