Little brothers — they were adorable as babies. Then seemingly overnight, they turned into little devils bent on making your life a living hell.
But then you grew up, and realized that maybe living across the hall from a real-life Dennis the Menace wasn’t so bad.
#1. Two words: wrestling matches.
You don’t look like you can tackle and hold a guy twice your size down, but you can. And you can thank those countless wrestling matches for that.
#2. He was a whistleblower, but he did save your ass from being grounded a few times.
With the help of a bribe or two, that is. Most of which involved ice cream.
#3. He made you laugh like nobody else could.
He was always up to crazy antics and could have been a professional facial contortionist. He loved to make you laugh, too, and you were his favorite audience.
#4. He did a background check of all of your dates.
Your little brother knew that you deserved better than that bonehead Jack who looked much older than sixteen. In his own weird way, he was watching out for you.
#5. He made you look good in front of your parents, let’s be honest.
Come on, admit it. If your younger brother was the type to pull one shenanigan after another, his trouble-making ways made your misdeeds pale in comparison.
Only your brother can relate to the references you make in daily conversations. You can give him one look, or some sort of code, and he will understand what you mean right away.
#7. He knows all your secrets and yet doesn’t blackmail you.
Who else knows that you used to think ‘cabbage’ was pronounced the French way and that you peed your bed until you were 12? Only he does. It’s a miracle you’re not extorted for money yet.
#8. He was really sweet when he wanted to be.
Oh yeah, he could pull the little brother card very well. He would snuggle up next to you when you were reading, or just randomly hug you because he felt like it.
#9. He’s willing to fight your enemies.
Your brother may be younger, but that hasn’t stopped him from threatening old boyfriends who made you cry. He even fired a BB gun at Jack’s leg once.
#10. He looks up to you.
To your little brother, you’re a rock star. You were the big sister who had an answer to all of life’s questions, who could do his math homework in 10 minutes, and made growing up look so cool and easy.
#11. He values your advice.
He always went to you for help in getting a girl, mending relationships — basically for the really important life problems. He seeks your opinion and knows that you’re always willing to help him out.
#12. No matter how successful you get, he’ll always keep your feet on the ground.
Whenever you’re in one of your boasting moods and forget that you’re just “Jenny from the block”, he’ll remind you that you used to drool on your pillow when you had retainers. That shuts you right up.
#13. There isn’t a day when you don’t miss each other.
So you’re all grown up now, and you may not be living under the same roof anymore. But whenever you do get a chance to meet despite your busy schedules, you pick up exactly where you left off.
It doesn’t matter how old your baby brother gets. For you, he will always be that little toddler who didn’t know how to roll his R’s. And you refuse to see him any other way.
