half siblings, do they still exist?

[FlojoHoHoHo]

Took my DCs to a music group this morning. DS dad usually takes DS but FIL died so I took him along with DD. Music lady said ah this is your half sister, what's your half sister called etc. DS DS knows they have different dads but has never heard the term half before. On the third time she said it, I firmly said "its sister, we use the term sister".
AIBU to find the term half sister uncomfortable? As far as I'm concerned they are brother and sister, end of.

It still exists, but now its more common its just used less I think

I guess its similar to me talking about my DHs cousins, who he is close to, and I am now too, except that they are actually his third cousins or second cousins once removed or something? (His dad and their mum are cousins, if someone knows the correct term?)

Yes the term exists, it means they are "lesser" siblings, interestingly we dont use it and my DC is very loving and kind to siblings, my former SCs used the term, and their treastment of their smaller siblings is abysmal, they treat them like puppets they can pick up and play with when the mood takes them, rather than little people with thoughts and feelings of their own.

yes it is like cousins, my DS has second cousins who he calles cousins because he sees more of them than of his first cousins, and has second cousins who he doesn't know from adam who are definitely second cousins and would be wierd to call them full cousins

shelby she's welcome to him!
I guess, like others have said, if you live miles away from them and only see them once in a blue moon when growing up, u might view them as half, but since mine live together and think the world of each other when not trying to kill each other! then I found it quite weird and very much outdated.

Half-sister is just a fact, genetically. I have a half-sister and we only met a few times and are not close. We just share a father (and possibly mothers)who were a bit of a mess.

But I think if you all live together, teacher probably should not have used this term.

My sister is 18 years older then me, different dad, still my sister. My household has full, steps and halfs all living together and they are all brothers and sisters (unless they are annoyed with each other then the 'step' comes out).

I think that, in legal terms, if they share one parents they are siblings.

I'd have felt uncomfortable too, because my children see themselves as proper brothers, having had the same mother, and grown up together from the off, with virtually no input from their fathers.

They're just brothers and if anyone had suggested otherwise they'd be bemused! The term came up a few weeks ago and they were quite intrigued, but I agree with the poster who said, same house + brothers/sisters, probably, and different houses = half-siblings. Also subjective depending on what you prefer as a family.

None of her business really.

Sorry that + should have been an =.

and actually, we tend to say 'brother' or 'sister' for their half siblings they have rarely, or never, met, too.

Yes the term exists, it means they are "lesser" siblings,

No it doesn't!

What a load of crap! Of course it doesn't mean they are lesser siblings! It means they are a sibling who happens to have a different parent!

Any children that my Ex has will never be anything other than a half sibling in my eyes. DD1 has expressed the same opinion - she may change her mind in later years but it's absurd to argue that the term 'half' sister/brother is outdated and innapropriate for some family situations.

I agree with the first poster in that it useful to describe dynamics.

Technically all my siblings are half, but the ones I grew up with I simply refer to as brother and sisters and those I didn't and have sporadic visits with I refer to halves.

I refer to my mums children from her second marriage (who I grew up with) as my brothers and my dads children from his second marriage (who I don't know well) as my half brothers/sisters.

I have children from two different fathers and always refer to them as brothers and so does everyone else.

The fact that my DC has a different dad to my other DC, does not mean they are "half siblings", they are brothers and sisters and that is the end of that discussion.

But as I have already posted that is based on my experience, of my younger children being treated appallingly by the - ahem - "half siblings" they have who openly refer(red) to them as so.

I don't know any family that actively uses the term "half brother" or "half sister" in daily use.

I refer to my mums children from her second marriage (who I grew up with) as my brothers and my dads children from his second marriage (who I don't know well) as my half brothers/sisters.

Thats what I meant, its a term you use to describe them because they arent as close.

Of course they still exist, but we don't really use the term either, unless to explain it to people. My DSCs don't live with us, but they refer to each other as brothers/sisters, and are wonderfully close.

When DD was born we just explained to my DSCs that they are half siblings, but that they didn't need to use the word 'half' if they didn't want to, because DD would love them just as much as she would if they shared both parents rather than just daddy. They experimented with both (and stepsister too as they got a bit confused about the terms - they called me half mummy rather than stepmum at one point too :o) and settled with sister.

DD (now 5) calls them her brother and sisters but understands she has a different mum from them.

I agree with MTJ - blended families are the norm now so I don't think it's really necessary to be precise about the terms unless you are explaining the family set up. Each to their own though. Having said that I think I would be a bit miffed if somebody told DD off for using 'sister' instead of 'half sister'. She understands what their relationship is, even if she's not using the technical term. It's not difficult to work out that her big sisters and brother are half siblings as they don't live with us, and so far her teachers have left it at that.

Argh I hate that term!

My brother has a different dad. I have never, not once, called him my 'half brother' and same vice versa. My mum always said 'you came from the same womb, you are brother and sister end of'. I think i'd be offended if he referred to me as his half sister. I never understood the term anyway. Half of him is allowed to be called my brother and the other half is what? Nothing? Its just so weird.. I'd never use it. Siblings are siblings.

DS has half brothers and sisters and step brothers and sisters. I think when he is at his dad's he calls them all brother and sister and he does here when he's talking to me.
However if we're out he will talk about them as 'half' and 'step', I think just in case anyone thinks they're mine.
He doesn't live with any of them full time, two of them have a different mum and the two step children are no blood relationship at all.
He does love them and I don't think it means anything, just a way of being factual.

My DH has one sister, two half-brothers and a half-sister. His dad had the 'half' siblings with his new wife a number of years after divorcing DHs mum. He never lived with them in the same house (and didn't see his dad much growing up) so to call them 'brother' and 'sister' would imply he knows them better than he does - he sort of knows them like I know my cousins.

We have had similar situations, teachers, DSDs mother, other people referring to DDs, DSD and DS as 'step' or 'half' siblings. We have explained politely (many times) that in our family we are family and there is no such thing as step or half anything as it makes the DC feel unequal and uncomfortable. Some accept it and abide by our wishes, some don't. If they don't then the DCs generally correct them, even 3yo DS Their problem not ours.

Maybe she was unaware that including the 'half' could be offensive? People often talk about step-brother/sisters without dropping the step, so perhaps she just assumed it would be the same thing (if she didn't know anyone with half siblings).

It can be complicated, some people might insist on the 'half' being included, some might hate it, so I doubt she meant anything by it!

It was years before I realised by best friends sister was his half sister, but then my ex always always referred to his brother as his half brother.

The term is the correct term and, therefore, still exists.

I have four children who are full brothers and sisters.

Their father went onto another relationship and had a daughter with someone else. She is my children's half-sister.

She lives with her mum, so obviously they have a different relationship to her as they did growing up with one another in the same house. She's also many years younger than them, so almost a different generation to them. My ex husband has also died, so perhaps that's changed the dynamics too.

I think it's more common to refer to children living in the same house as just sisters or brothers, even if they're technically half-siblings.

I actually don't think the term's offensive in the least, it's just the genetic link they have. There's actually nothing wrong with having a half-sibling. It's just a fact of life nowadays.