5 Things Little Sisters Should Remember To Thank Their Big Sisters For

When I was younger, I used to hate my older sister. I felt like we were polar opposites, and I never felt worthy of her presence. We would argue until I was in tears, and we never had the best relationship. Even though I basically hated her, I always looked up to her for some reason. Everything she did was so cool, and I desperately yearned to be her friend. That was my one life goal as a kid. 

As we grew older and more mature, we realized that all of our arguments and fights were petty in the scheme of it all. It was easier to appreciate and be kind to each other. Once we started treating each other like friends as opposed to enemies, that’s when I realized how amazing it is to have an older sister.

And I’ll tell you the top 5 reasons why having a big sister is the shit:

1. She’s older, so she’s bound to make the big mistakes before you do.

I’ve learned to make sure not to make the same mistakes she did. She’s always willing to talk about her past experiences in hopes that I will take a lesson out of her book. Plus, she’s always right about everything… no matter how much I don’t listen to her… I probably should have in a lot of cases.

2. She always knows what’s “in.”

(Well… if you had a cool older sister like mine!) In some aspects of life, I felt like I was a little ahead of my friends. I had a little bit of “older kid” knowledge. For example, I was never much of a shopper, but when I did shop, I always knew the key pieces of clothing to buy because I would sneak peaks into my sister’s closet. I wore skinny jeans in the seventh grade… That’s a big deal. I didn’t see any other girl wearing skinny jeans until the eighth grade.

3. She always has your back when you get in trouble.

Maybe she felt like she owed me for all those times she insulted me as a kid or maybe it was payment for those times I helped her out some way… either way, my punishments were always lessened because she would talk to my parents beforehand to assure them that whatever I did wasn’t thaaaat bad.

4. She’ll always sympathize with you, but at the same time, she keeps it real.

She’s always my go-to person when I need to vent about how stupid my ex is or how unfair dad’s being. She’ll let me spill my heart out. But in the end, she’ll tell me if I’m overreacting or being stupid. It’s always good to get a little slap of reality, and then a warm, sisterly hug afterwards.

5. “Sisters by chance, best friends by choice.”

You don’t get to choose your family, but you do get to choose which family members to create strong relationships with. My sister and I have gone through so much shit together, but that’s exactly it: We’ve gone through it all together countless heartbreaks, endless groundings, school issues, and life struggles. I wouldn’t trade any of the bad for a slice of good, because I got the best thing: My sister, my best friend, the love of my life. What more could I possibly ask for?