1. Your parents are — how do you say this — “broken in”.
By the time you came along, your older brother may have already dented the family van, or your older sister could have already come home with a C- on a math exam. The shock factor of making mistakes has somewhat been diminished by your older sibling’s antics.
2. Older siblings are 24/7 advice factories.
We all know that awkward phase when you needed answers from someone older, but it sure as heck wasn’t going to be your parents. Who else but an older sibling could answer questions like how to flirt, how to handle your first break up, how to drink, or how to get through a hangover?
3. You grew up being cautious of everything.
Because you never got over that one time your older sibling gave you dog food and said it was cereal. Or all those times they told you there were monsters in your room. You were always on the lookout for any surprise tickle fights or headlocks. Safe to say, you had a few trust issues.
4. You were their number 1 fan growing up.
Your parents called you “the sidekick” because you followed your older brother or sister around wherever they went. When you went to the same school they did, some kids would say, “That’s your brother/sister? They’re awesome!” To your young eyes, they were the god of everything.
5. Your older sibling was a guardian angel sometimes…
They let you sneak out of the house, if you asked nicely. They also helped you when homework got really tough. But to tell your parents that you weren’t the one who broke the vase and blame it on your cat instead? You either had to cough up 20 bucks, or clean their room for free. For a month.
6. …But most of the time, an evil overlord.
Your whole life, you were always stuck with the bottom bunk, you were always Luigi on Mario Kart, and at one point in your life you were at least 30% sure that you were adopted… because your older brother or sister said so.
7. You had a steady stream of hand-me-downs.
This was both a blessing and a curse. Sure, that glitter tube top your older sister used to wear was so cute — 2 years ago. And yeah, you’ve been wanting that Derek Jeter jersey since forever, but now that it’s all worn in and yellow, you’ve kind of changed your mind.
8. Older siblings made you their emotional punching bag…
You might not have known everything about your older brother or sister, but you knew when something wasn’t right. If you asked them about it, they would either pour out all emotions or shrug it off. Either way, you knew that no one eats an entire tub of ice cream ‘just because.’
9. …Or maybe even a literal punching bag.
They taught you how to take a punch, and possibly roll out a few. You learned not to take too much crap from anyone. If anyone was messing with you, they were there at the first line of defense. No one was allowed to bully you… except them.
Whether you like it or not, your older sibling probably had one of the strongest influences in your life, if not THE strongest. Can you even imagine what your life would have been without this person? What would have happened if there were no Dee Dee to your Dexter, no villain to your superhero, no Marco to your Polo? Thankfully, you won’t have the chance to find out.