Behind the Blog #23 – It’s in the Family

Behind the Blog is a meme to help bloggers connect their life and interests to the content showcased on their blog. The co-hosts, Faye, Kathe, and Melissa will provide a different topic, idea, or question every week that bloggers can relate to themselves and the books, films, or other media they find interesting!

Every family is different. This week we’re asking you about yours. Do you have any siblings? If you do, can you tell us anything about them? If you don’t, did you have any friends who felt like siblings to you? How has the ideas surrounding brothers and sisters shaped your life?
In relation to media; are there any sibblings in books or films that you truly love? Any that you wish were your own?

---

I’m one of those lucky – or unlucky depending on how you see things – people who hails from a rather large family. While this could have meant that no one got along, it actually just led to us all living very family-led lives. Now, that’s not saying that we don’t have our drama and negative issues but aside from that, we’re very much a “put family first” set of people. A while ago I used to think that I wasn’t like that, that I could put distance between me and my close family members and it would be like a breath of fresh air but I soon found myself craving the craziness and wackiness that is my family and I realised that I am very much a family girl at heart. (shhh, don’t tell anyone!)

That being said, this post is to tell you all about my sibblings and not the entirety of my extended family – we would be here for much too long if I tried to do that! – and so, to start of really simply; I have two biological sisters. The first is older than me by two and a half years and the second is younger by two and a half years – almost exactly to the month, one born in Dec and one in Jan. I also have three step brothers, one who is two months older than me, one who is two years and three months older and one who is five years older than me.

Growing up, I really did not get along with my eldest sister. We simply did not mesh well, we argued all the time and – unfortunately – more often than not came to blows. The problem was that we were too alike and too different all at the same time. She was “popular”, liked hanging around with people and just having a good time, whereas I preferred to be alone, spending my time writing online or reading and just not being that social which made me an outcast in her eyes but we were both very stubborn and aggressive and I would never let her back me into the corner. Nowadays, however, I am happy to report that we get along a LOT better. Sure, there are odd times when I still would like to push that smug smile off her face but generally speaking we argue a lot less and can actually, you know, have full blown conversations which is nice. I do believe that the distance away from each other really helped!

My little sister, on the other hand, was someone I had to share a bedroom with and while we were never incredibly close, we definitely got along better than I did with my older sister. We used to play-fight a lot, and talk about things but it still never got completely personal between us. It’s a shame but I know that our relationship is still one that I treasure. Once again we’re two very different people – with her taking after my oldest sister a lot more than me – but fortunately we didn’t come to blows quite as often as I did with the eldest. Of course, we still came to blows a few times, when you’re sharing a room with someone, it is difficult not to! Nowadays we’re more distant with each other as we’ve spent a lot of time apart but we still get along like chalk and cheese when we do see each other so it’s all good there!

I’m going to lump my step brothers all together for this bit. Growing up, I only saw them every other weekend and on the yearly family holiday – and christmas, easter, etc – and that was perfect, I think. The youngest step brother was pretty much my best friend throughout primary school and so it was just like going round to his house to play on the weekend – with him round mine every weekday – and it was just nice to think of him as my brother. The middle was good to get along with too and apparently we were always partnered up in games – which we always won because you know, we’re awesome – and I get along with him well. I do tend to have arguments with him now that I’m seeing him a lot more recently but nothing major which is always good! As for my older brother, we get on well but I think it was difficult with him being so much older than all of the rest of us, he would always be the one with the responsibility of keeping everyone together and safe, you know? Now though, we can have pleasant conversations and it’s always nice to see him.

So there we have it, the kids of the whacky family. I may despise some of my sibblings some of the time but I do count myself lucky to have such a large family with such a dynamic of personalities. I couldn’t even imagine growing up as an only child, or even one with just a single sibbling.

There are a thousand books that I could talk about with characters I would love to have as sibblings, or even relationships between sibblings that I wish I could have but since I don’t want this post to be too long, I’m going to list my top three fictional sibblings – you may just notice a pattern :P

• Harry Potter Series; The Weasley Sibblings
  Yeap. I loved them. They were all so wacky and awesome and did sort of remind me of my big crazy family when I grew up. Of course, Fred and George were my favourites!
• Elemental Series; The Merrick Brothers
  Not only are they *drool* worthy, they’re also just damn brilliant. They function just as a normal family would. They each have their own different personalities – and elements and are just brilliant. Also… Gabriel and Nick? Mmm.
• The Truth About Forever; The Catering Team
  Okay, so these are not technically sibblings but they mesh so well and I would just love to have them all as sibblings. And they’re cousins so you know… it kind of works! haha.

Yeah… I have a thing for whacky, friendly families and… twins. I always wanted to be a twin.

But now that you’ve got to here, why don’t you join us!
Behind the Blog is a new meme for bloggers themselves. To find out more, check out the introduction on my blog or that on Kathe’s.
Are you joining us? Here are our rules:

• The hosts’ Behind the Blog posts go live at midnight on Friday, GMT + 0:00. Feel free to post before that and then just link up on Friday!
• Feel free to make use of the button shown above or, if it clashes with your blog colors, e-mail us or make your own.
• Read, write, and connect! The Linky is there for you. Make use of it!
• Last but not the least, have fun!