to want to know about your relationship with your siblings?

[BobMarley]

Is it good? Bad?

I only have one brother, 3 years older and we didn't get on very well in our childhood but we get on very well now. He was very active and loud whilst I was more inclined to read a book in a corner. He teased me a lot. But obviously I didn't have any other siblings to pick from so I wonder if you have more than one sibling, do you have a favourite one?

I have three children myself (DD1 6, DD2 5 and DS1 2) so wonder if their experience of siblings is going to very different from mine.

I am the middle of 3 sisters. Talk to both sisters at least weekly. One is abroad so i do not see her often but see the other regularly. I love my sisters very much and would do anything for either of them - but i wouldn't class them as 'friends' - it is a different sort of relationship.

Ditto Reeble! I have four older brothers and one younger sister. Eldest brother is 10 years older than me, sister is 7 years younger.

Brother 1 has always been volatile and can be deeply unpleasant and scathing. There were other issues I alone had with him, but we keep in sporadic touch by text. He can be very amusing.

Brother 2- I was always closest to him and he has been a tremendous support to me in the past. We don't keep in regular contact but it doesn't seem to matter- our relationship is still strong.

Brother 3- a bit of an oddball. Now lives in Australia and dislikes contact, however he will respond to me. Probably because I ask nothing of him and only contact him once in a blue moon.

Brother 4- also close to him. He was the funny one although I did stab him in the arm with a pencil when I was little because he kept needling me. Am most in touch with him.

Sister- up until four weeks ago I saw her once a week. I would say we're fairly close- I go to barbecues at her house sometimes. But... tbh we wouldn't have anything in common as friends if we weren't sisters, iyswim.

Brothers 2 and 4 are godfathers to my boys, also sister is godmother to one of them.

BobMarley that is something that makes the loss of my brother extra harsh. Our mum died when we were teenagers (she was the resident parent after divorce) so there is now no one else who remembers the ins and outs of our life together :(

I am the youngest of four. One brother and two sisters. My eldest sister died of cancer when she was 16 and despite our 10 year age gap, we were really close.
I get on with my brother and sister but I dont see them that often even though we live close by each other. My brother and sister don't really get on. They've had quite a few arguments over the years and I'm the peace keeper.
I do know that if we ever needed each other we'd all be there for one another though.

I have one younger sister (by three years). We bickered and argued our way through childhood, but God help anyone who tried to intervene, because at that point we stood firmly together to repel intruders. We even banded together against the parentals when one of us was being told off for hurting the other!
Now, we can be quick to wind each other up (still!) but she is the one person who can tell me exactly what she thinks of what I've just said/done, knowing I'll blow up for a second or two, then forget it. And vice versa. She can annoy me more than anyone I know, but I love her to death. We live about 2 hours apart, but visit each other for weekends regularly and go on holiday together once a year. And we talk on the phone most nights, even if it's only 10 minutes to say "How was your day?".
She's my baby sister, even though she's 30 and married. And she always will be - I will always feel that I have the right to tell her what to do (which obviously she loves!) and that the duty to protect her falls to me (although I'm not sure what from any more!). She clearly feels something of the same - when she has a problem I am always the first person she rings to talk it through with. And I will be there to listen to whatever she wants to tell me until the day I die.

Oh Bender I'm so sorry for you. That is really shit. I think if I would loose my brother I would feel very lonely. As you said, the only one who has some idea where I came from and why I am me.

Donthave I am sorry you lost your sister at such a young age.

Very close to both my sister and brother, but speak/text my sister at least once a day . Brother lives a way away from me, but we all get together on Sundays and catch up.

We have always been like this.

I have one sibling, a brother two years younger than me. We fought like cats and dogs all the way through childhood, drove our parents mad, because we are so very very different - me: quiet, studious, always daydreaming; him: hyperactive, sporty, always with friends. Only really stuck together at school and when our dad was in one of his 'rages' - regular, terrifying outbursts of verbal abuse towards us and our mother.
We're still different but things settled down when we were about 14 and 16. We still fight, generally about how much he expects from our parents (he lives at home, I'm away at university), and then about how much I lecture him on how much he expects from our parents. But we're more often seen laughing together than shouting at each other these days, and I can spend an hour chatting on the phone to him without noticing where the time has gone!

Toast that sounds lovely. And English glad it all settled down and you get on so well now. I do love hearing the positive stories, makes me feel there is hope for my children!

doesn't mention my dad and his sister who still rarely see each other despite living 30 seconds away and don't see eye to eye on anything, especially their deceased father. They are in their 50s fgs and need to stop all the petty squabbles!

I grew up as the 3rd of 4. Like most kids we fought and argued, but we get on well now. Well, my older sister died, but the 3 of us (and our respective spouses) get along just fine. We don't live in each others pockets, but I see my sister (because we are attending the same things) a couple of times a week, and my brother (who isn't local) and I speak or e-mail every couple of weeks. Brother and I and our families have been on holiday together many times. I doubt if I could live with either of them, but, If push came to shove, we'd do anything for each other though - that's family.

One brother, one sister, both younger. We all get on like a house on fire. Fought like cats and dogs as children, though, unless threatened from outside, when we would mass ranks. Cannot say that we are close in distance, but they both travelled a fairly long way to my husband's funeral, in fact my sister came out to me the day after he died and stayed for 10 days. Considering this was in December and she had 3 children, a husband and a dog at home, I would say we had a good relationship. We certainly had a good laugh, despite the circumstances. I would do the same for her.
Travelled over to the UK last November for my brother's "surprise" birthday party, would not have missed that for the world.
I am lucky that I both like and love my siblings.

I have a sister 2 years older and brother 3 1/2 years younger much like OP's children and am lucky enough that I wouldn't change anything about them or our childhood for the world.

We are a very close family and had the usual squabbles growing up (me being the middle child always felt hard done by of course!) but my siblings are my best friends despite me having lived offshore for 4 years. We talk at least 4 times a week, via skype or on the phone.

Devastatingly, in the last fortnight, we have found out that my brother has terminal cancer at 28 years old and the knowledge that our lives will be changed forever is so hard to comprehend. None of us can get our heads around it.

I have a 7 month DS and I would love to give him brothers and/or sisters so he can experience the same love, affection and closeness that I had growing up. I know we can't replicate our own lives in our children, and there's no way to know if they'll grow up close or not, but I would love to try and give him similar experiences.

For me, my siblings will always be the first people (after DH!) I go to with any problems I have/had and vice versa. We're each others' sounding boards, counsellors and voices of reason. My life would never be the same without them.

Oh no Pudgy how devastating. I wish you lots of strength to deal with your situation. Can't believe how many of you are loosing or have lost a sibling so young. Really for you all.

Pudgy - I didn't know whether or not to click on this thread as my wee brother died from cancer aged 32. I will read the other posts other posts tomorrow (I need to go to bed). He was the best brother in the world.

Pudgy I am so sorry :( Cancer is such a bastard. I hope it helps even a little to know that here is a stranger thinking of you and wishing you all strength.

I'm sorry pudgy, that is so hard. And sorry to you Yama too. Cancer is such a bastard.

i have one younger sister.

we are extremely different from one another. she was always crying and sulking and tantrumming and whining and begging to be picked up (my DM obliged, it was just me who hated it!) i just couldn't bear the sight of her. i was always extremely independent and just couldn't understand why she was so needy. my DM rocked her to sleep every night until she was EIGHT fgs.

mostly i was streaks ahead of her in school too (she was a slow reader until secondary), and i def made her feel v v v stupid by constantly taking the piss out of her. i was a bitch of a little girl tbh.

i actually apologised to her for all this, a few years ago. poor lamb, she thanked me for saying sorry and confirmed that i had indeed made her childhood v unpleasant.

we are friends now, we speak frankly with one another and she does ask me for relationship and career advice. we don't always agree but i love her as she is now. there was never anything wrong with her, she was/is just not like me.

Thank you for your kind words Bob, Yama, Bender and Noqontrol - we are taking it one day at a time.
Yama, I'm so sorry for your loss.

have an older brother ( 10 years older) and a younger sister( 15 months younger)

my brother and i get on ok, but he constantly tells me what i should do, how i should do things, he is full of get rich quick ideas and tries to get me involved too, more recently he has sided with my sister on many things, he also has a very rose tinted view of our childhood, often to be heard saying " but i saw things for ten years before you came along" i mean, how perceptive can a child be?
as for my sister, she is a grade A bitch, she hates me with a passion, has banned her children from talking to me, treats my daughter very badly, ie, misses her birthday, forgets her xmas present, ignores her at family gatherings, puts her down on facebook etc,
sister is a lieing, coniving little madem, who was spoilt as a child, and continues to be a very high maintanace grown up, she is only ever happy when looking down on me, she thinks i am below her as we are not flash with cash like she is, therefore she is constantly in debt, where as we might not have the most up to date tv, or the poshest car, but we are debt free and live happyily on what we have.

ironically, she is jealous of us, i can't spend very much time in her company as i can't be doing with her bragging and one upmanship., actually, we haven't really spoken to each other since my mum's funeral and personally i am quite content for it to remain that way. she was hugely jealous of the very close relationship i had with mum.

i longed to have a proper sisterly relationship with her, but it was never to be, as the saying goes, " you can choose your friends but not your family", and for the sake of my sanity i choose my friends.

I have two sisters and a brother. I don't care much for my brother--he was terrible as a kid, and he's now terrible as an adult.

My sisters though, they are my best friends. We are constantly talking to each other. Literally, always texting/emailing/on the phone with if we're not hanging out with each other. It's been like this since we were little. I hope to stay this way forever!

i have a younger brother with autism who is more like a toddler an who i adore. i also have an older brother who i havent seen for over 7 years and hopefully will never see again. he made my life hell as a child and has left long term damage in our family. i have a totally disfunctional family as to one brother i am a mother more than a sister and to the other i was something to abuse.

None existent. I have two older half brothers who were put into care when I was five by my parents who basically didnt want them. My dad wanted only me as I was his biological child.

Now both brothers blame me for being the one who got to stay with my mum but as our mum was mentally disturbed herself it wasn't great being at home.

I have seven nephews and nieces who I dont know and never will

Its all very painful and has completely messed with my head and no doubt theres.

Pretty fraught at times with all of them as we had a difficult childhood and it's hard to get past the residual stuff sometimes. I'm the oldest. At the moment, I have a decent relationship with sister 1, a pretty good relationship with sister 2, a fairly distant relationship with sister 3 and a pretty good relationship with my brother. It hasn't always been like this - there have been barren patches with all of them over the last 20 odd years since I left home.

My relationship with sister 3 is strained chiefly because her husband is an abusive arsehole and it's difficult to communicate with her on any level atm. Sister 2 used to be in same situation and our relationship has been much easier since she dumped the bastard. Sister 1 ebbs and flows according to how well her relationship with bloke is going.