By: Ryan Sung

What is it like having an older sibling?

It’s a question that people without siblings, or older siblings often bring up. Unfortunately I have an answer on what it is like having an older sibling. Having an older sibling has been an emotional rollercoaster for me, with the roller coaster at times being fun, sad, positive and yet frustrating all at the same time. A cluster of emotions either gently hugging you or hitting you hard. Very hard.

I can not speak for everyone when it comes to having an older sibling, but what I can say with complete confidence is that having an older sister has without a doubt been a very educational experience.

Having an older sibling has definitely spiced things up within my life, because having an older sibling is the equivalent to having a third, unnecessary and nosy parent. As a result, having an older sibling within your family makes interactions within your family a lot more complex since with the addition of another third and obnoxious parent it means one more person that you have to listen to. However, unlike parents that give you a choice, older siblings give orders.

Older siblings will also take any opportunity to viciously and relentlessly insult and take advantage of you at any given opportunity. This may sound like they are just trying to tease you, but the problem with older siblings is that why they insult you, they are right.

But having an older sibling is not all that bad, even if you view your older sibling as an annoying person at the end of the day they are still family, and they will at times treat you like family. Older siblings can be similar to a two sided coin, at times they can be the ones defending you during arguments, other times they can be the ones to argue against you. Personally, I view older siblings as territorial animals with the younger sibling being the territory. Older siblings will treat you like trash, but the minute someone else treats their younger sibling like trash, the older sibling will not hesitate to defend the younger sibling.

Older siblings may act like an unnecessary and frustrating third parent. However they are still a parent and they are someone to talk to when problems arise, at times, your older sibling will be more understanding about your problems then your parents. When you have an older sibling, you will find at times there are just some problems that you can only talk about with your older sibling and no one else.

Older siblings also affect your life on a wider scale the more older your older sibling gets. When your older sibling ages more and more, so do your parents and their experience on how to raise a child. As mean as it may sound, think of older siblings as some sort of guinea pig. They are the first child that your parents have ever raised and every moment the more your parents stay around your older sibling will be an educating moment for your parents as they encounter new and unforeseen challenges that they have never experienced before.

As a result, when your parents get to you, the younger sibling, they will know what to do and make sure there are no mistakes. Personally, my older sibling admitted that her childhood was a lot more lavish and lenient than mine because she was the first child and my parents were not as strict at the time. My older sibling even told me that my parents signed me up for more extracurriculars and classes compared to her so that they would not make the same mistakes they made with her when she was my age. In comparison to my childhood, my sister lived a more lenient and carefree one.

But this does not mean that I think that my older sibling is the favorite child. Perhaps this is my way of coping, but I think that older siblings have special privileges and younger ones have different special privileges. Younger siblings will never get the blame whenever anything happens but older siblings will be treated with more respect by the parents.

It’s without a doubt that having an older sibling was definitely a life changing experience. My older sibling brought me onto an emotional rollercoaster of life teeming with mixed emotions of happiness, anger and sadness and I both hate my older sibling and am grateful for my older sibling.