The SO and I were talking last night, and she mentioned nasty things her 8-year-older-than-she sister did to her. The SO’s imaginary friends were Buffy and Jodie from Family Affair. Her sister killed them. There was a field with a bulldozer working in a field. Her sister got a shocked look on her face and pointed. 'Look! That bulldozer just ran over Buffy and Jodie! They’re dead! :eek: ’ And the SO believed her. There were other things, but that one appealed to my sick sense of humour.
By way of contrast, my sister – eight years older than I – was kind. When I was about five years old I was sad because Little Jackie Paper died (I assumed he died, since he ‘came no more’) and Puff the Magic Dragon was sad. My sister told me that there’s another verse to Puff The Magic Dragon that they never play on the radio. See, Puff was sad in his cave; but then another little boy came, and they became friends and they lived happily ever after.
How did your older sibling(s) treat you? Were they your tormentor, or your friend? Or did they just ignore you?
Didn’t have an older sibling, but can I just say that Puff the Magic Dragon is getting sort of dated. Because if it’s an imaginary dragon, who cares about its feelings. If it’s a real dragon, I think every adult under the age of 45 would agree that riding a real live dragon would be awesome.
I was the oldest sib. When I was 18 and my brother was 10, I parked him in line to get tickets to the first Star Wars movie, and I walked down to the drugstore (two stores down) and got us candy. I’ve always carried a big purse.
He still remembers that day, and he remembers that I used to take him to arcades and buy him tokens.
I was sometimes kind and sometimes mean to our sister, who is five years younger than me. I was a passive-aggressive tomboy, whereas she had always been more forthright yet traditionally feminine.
I worshipped my big brother (5 yrs older) and sister (10 yrs older). My sister teased me and my brother beat me up pretty good. But we all liked each other immensely. We each went through kind of a crap period when we were 11-13, respectively. But otherwise, we were super tight.
I’m lucky to say that they are still my biggest fans, and I am still largely motivated in my daily life to make them think well of me. I would rather spend time with my brother and sister than anyone else on the planet, save my parents. I kind of wish we all lived in a big tree house together, with our families.
This is not to say that we are not uber competetive, we are… or that board games can’t get heated… they do. But they are pretty much tops. I wish I saw more of them.
Interestingly, we each married someone who has a strained relationship with their own sibling. My husband loves my family, but does find it weird that we always spend every possible vacation and holiday together.
I am the oldest. I always say that my middle brother who is three years younger than me only got into one fight in our lives - it started the day he was born and still hasn’t ended yet 37 years later. We just genuinely do not have anything in common and do not like each other. We spent most of our childhood beating the crap out of each other often quite violently and I started much of it. I was cruel to him as well. For instance, I bought a new pickup truck with my own money when I was 16. I immediately passed a rule that my middle-brother could only ride in it if he sat in the back no matter if it was raining, scorching or freezing and that is what we did. I used to take him to school like that until he got tired of everyone laughing at him and found someone else to come pick him up. Those are just examples but every day was like that.
I feel fairly guilty about a lot of that these days. I was nicer to my youngest brother who is 9 years younger than me. We also had a common enemy with our middle brother so he got it from both sides.
I’m the youngest. All my sisters are great! My brothers, well… one joined the Army the year I was born then went to college when he came home from Berlin so I hardly ever saw him. He’s okay for the most part. The other has been a pain in the ass, now we mainly ignore each other on the rare occasions that we’re on the same property.
My brother is 2 years older than me. He was and is a benevolent dictator. Well, monarch. He is definitely the prince and I am here to do his bidding. But we are genuinely good friends.
She beat the shit out of me on a regular basis. I was always tiny, elfin-like, and she was always “big-boned.” She hits really hard. One day, she got shoved into the metal door frame at school after recess and banged up her head pretty good. Had a golf-ball sized knot right in the middle of her forehead. About a week later, we were outside having a snowball fight and somehow, I, worst aim ever, managed to nail her square in the middle of that injury. First and only time I ever made my sister cry. I didn’t know whether to be horrified I’d been such a jerk, or proud of myself that I finally got her. It really took the wind out of my glory, knowing I’d hurt her, ya know?
Anyway, when I was about 13 or 14, we both realized that, instead of threatening to rat each other out, we’d do a lot better if we banned together as a team and covered for each other instead. We’ve been BFFs ever since. She is three years older.
I got along just fine with my siblings. My oldest brother is six years older than me, and we didn’t really have much in common due to the age difference. But he at least was nice to me and drove me places - in the front seat. He let me borrow his 8 tracks too.
My other brother is two years younger. For a while, in our later teens we were like best friends. I also have a sister who is a year and a half older. We never hung out or said much to one another, but we got along just fine.
I still get along just fine with them all, even though we’re spread out from southern Ontario, to eastern Ontario, to Nova Scotia.
My older sister (by four years) teased me relentlessly. My mother always said she was jealous of me because I displaced her as being the “baby”. She teased me a lot, and she was very critical of me. It took me years to figure out that she was the main reason why I always liked guys that criticized me or didn’t like me. I am better now, but I still have problems of liking unreliable guys. I believe also that my sister may be a narcissist, as she fits all but two of the characteristics of being a narcissist. She is a very critical person, yet she is extremely sensitive if she is criticized. I don’t dislike her, and I wish her well, but I don’t enjoy being around her. In addition, there are three reasons why I travel on Thanksgiving Day; (1) the airfares are much lower, (2) the airport is uncrowded, and (3) last, but not least, I don’t want to be around my sister for the annual feast on Thanksgiving Day. I go someplace warm every Thanksgiving week-end, and avoid hearing all of her ____.
I have three older brothers, the youngest of which is ten years older than me. With an age gap like that, there was a definite “three-against-one” dynamic.
They didn’t beat my ass or anything, just general sibling torture. One of the favorites was to hold me down, strip off my shirt, smear me with peanut butter and then call in the dog.
It’s all good, though. I’ve made them all very much aware that they got away with such things because I was so much weaker than they were – but that A) they’ll be weak and frail in retirement homes homes long before I will, and B) those places allow dogs to visit.
My only older (full, that I grew up with) sibling is my brother who is 10.5 months older than I. Growing up, we were like twins. We did everything together and were together all the time. Our names were always said together like a catchphrase. The only time I ever remember him being mean to me (besides the times he would steal my bottle and drink it) was when we were 6-7 or so and I wanted to go outside and play and he wouldn’t come with me. That really pissed me off.
My older siblings picked on me and teased me mercilessly, but so did the older siblings of all my friends. It was the price you paid to have big brothers and big sisters who would come to your rescue if anybody outside the family tried to mess with you. I also had one younger sibling and didn’t pick on him because he was just too damned cute. We were allies against the bigger kids.
Once we all reached adolescence (we were very close in age) the teasing stopped and we united against Authority.
My sister, who is older than me by ten years, took care of me while my mother worked two jobs to make enough to feed and clothe her three children. She gave up her free time with friends to do this, but rather than resent it she taught me how to read before I ever entered school.
My brother, who is eleven years older than me, was too busy being a rebel to have anything to do with me when I was very young, but after he was married he used to have me out to stay with him and his wife during the summer. He taught me how to shoot and how to fish and there was a lot of hero worship on my part for a man who was funny and cool and who drank too much. I still have the 22 rifle he gave me for my 12th Christmas in 1959. I wish we were still speaking.
I was tormented by my sister (7 yrs older). We do not have a great relationship as adults. I am not sure if because of the age difference, or hardly anything in common, or the fact that she was very mean to me.
That said, we do love each other, I would do anything for her and I think she would do the same.
But we seldom talk, live hundreds of miles from each other and haven’t seen each other in years.
I was raised by my grandparents. My aunt was 9 years older than I.
I have a very early memory of her kneeling on my arms and putting a pillow over my face. Then picking me up, saying, “Let’s take the baby to the trash.” She doesn’t remember that.
When we were older, she would tell me she was going to teach me to ride her bike. we’d get a block from the house where her boyfriend, the one the folks forbade her to see, would be waiting. She’d jump into his car and tell me to push the bike home.
Then, when I got home, I’d get in trouble for letting her go!
I’m the oldest of 5 and I never did anything particularly mean to my sibs, altho I did yell at one of them once (and made her cry) because she pissed me off. The most-repeated phrase of my youth was “You’re the oldest - you should set the example!” Yeah, that was BS. I left home at 19 and have lived in a dozen different cities in the last 40 years. All of my sibs still live within 20-ish miles of our childhood home. So much for my example.
I was the youngest and only boy. Sisters are 6 and 3 years older. Oldest one kinda of raised us but went off to college a year earlier than usual and we were never real close. Sister that is 3 years older was absolutely brutal to me. She was cheerleader/pompom girl and I was an absolute dork. Her high school years coincided with my middle school and freshman year. She bullied me, not really physically, but emotionally and mentally. I smacked her once in front of my parents, they didn’t punish me. They knew she was being brutal. Those scars still exist.
As it turns out, when our parents were in the process of passing away I found out what they really thought of me. Apparently they thought the parents treated me as the golden child and my sisters really hate me for taking advantage of it. I honestly didn’t feel the different treatment, but they definitely did. Since the parents have been gone, haven’t seen them let alone talk to them. Apparently those scars still exist too.
I don’t think they are bad people, they are just misguided. Sucks that I don’t have a family any longer.
