Siblings: The Good Times , The Bad Times and The Worst Times

My sister and I are exact opposites. And what I mean by that is we do NOT get along. If we aren’t firing off snarky comments, rehashing old arguments (or coming up with new ones) for any matter of time, you better get out of the way because it’s not going to last long and the shrapnel headed your way is sharp. The time bomb starts a tickin’ when we’re together no matter the situation. Last December we had a verbal throwdown in an ice fishing house in front of all my dads buddies after we started bickering about who looked more like mom, who looked more like dad. It escalated in ways too dumb to mention.  So again: no matter the situation. It hasn’t always been like this, though, and judging by the history of our relationship, this too shall pass (but we’ll inevitably go back to ringing each other’s necks before too long! ’Cause, you know, life’s a circle).

 

When she first came around I didn’t know what to think of her (except that she was an alien), so I just went with it and we got along fine. I drew on her with my mom’s lipstick a lot, but, being an immobile infant, she couldn’t really do anything about it. When we were kids we acted as sort of partners in crime; whatever scheme I was devising, she was my right-hand gal. Once, we plotted to hide behind our claw-foot tub for 2 hours ('cause why not?!). Our parents panicked. We could hear them yelling for us from downstairs and even outside and we just giggled thinking we were the funniest pair. We came out before they called the cops though. Sorry Mom and Dad! Then junior high hit and, well, all I can say is the gap between 8 and 12 is better compared to the gap between 21 and 65. She was an amazing nightmare that annoyed me for 3 years straight. She'd sneak in my room and spy on me, take my stuff and hide it, insist on being around whenever my friends were over, take my CDs, my makeup, my clothes, mock my average grades (because she was a genius), plus she would always spy on my first boyfriend and I when we'd hang out. Her best friend was his little sister, too, so that never helped. We could always hear them snickering behind a door and it was so creepy and aggravating, hah. She learned exactly how to press each and every one of my buttons. To be fair, infuriating and pestering your older sister is the primary job of younger siblings, but damn she was WAY too good at it. As time passed and we got farther along in school, we could stand each other for longer increments of time. We even started liking the same music (she LOVED AFI)!  Once I went away to college, I realized more and more how funny and fun she was to be around and dare I say, how much I missed her!? Well . . . let’s not get carried away. Missed is a strong word, ha-ha *just kidding!* I did miss her. Of course, as soon as we start getting along, I moved all the way to California . . . but we remained close and talked constantly. I filled her in on my life in L.A. and she kept me in the loop about hometown happenings. Then she graduated high school, started college, and everything started deteriorating. Starting college will bring a huge shift in anyone’s life but for her (or us), it was as if a massive rogue wave snuck up, washed us clean of all love and mutual respect we had amassed for each other and were left as wildly vicious, irrational dingbats. Now, truth be told, it does seem sibling rivalry runs in our family so that it’s happening between us doesn’t totally surprise me, but the fact that it’s been going on so long does. We haven’t agreed on more than 5 things in 4 years. It’s exhausting!

Accurate portrayal of real life

I’ll be heading home for the holidays for about two weeks this year and then she’ll be joining me in L.A. in early January for a week. So we’ll be spending 24 solid days together. YIKES. We already had a huge fight about her coming here (and her wanting to invite three of her other friends to sleep on my floor for a week). So it’ll definitely be interesting, but honestly, unavoidable fights aside, I’m so excited to have her here. I know I said we are exact opposites, and it’s undeniably true on multiple levels, but when it comes down to the brass tax of it all, we can at least agree that no matter how many times I say I don't support the monster she's become or I want to throw her down a flight of stairs to knock some sense into her, or how many times she thinks I make all the wrong decisions or  am just being a plain b*tch, we really only have each other’s best interest in mind and the challenges we throw at each other help us both grow (no matter how painful). Here’s to hoping this 4-year long “shift” we've been in ends soon and that the increments of time we can stand each other rises again. For more sibling fun, check out these posts.

David Lee Roth Talks to Sister Lisa

Jackson 5 on the Beach

Happy Middle Child Day

Sibling Rivalry