To ask if you like your siblings

[User5672]

Me and my sibling were close when children but now don’t really get on.

My brother is one of the best human beings I know, and I’ve been an adoring big sister pretty much since I saw his scan picture aged 3. It’s my dearest wish that my two will have the same sort of bond that we are lucky enough to have.
DH has 4 brothers and none of them really seem to bother with each other. They are sort of like cousins that only see each other at funerals

My older sister is my best friend, has been since we were 13 and 15ish. Neither of us are particularly close to our mum so I think that's what brought us closer together.

We both get on with our brother too, though neither of us are as close to him.

I adore mine. I speak to my sisters pretty much daily and I would say they are my best friends. 1 brother I speak to every few days and we are still very close and 1 brother I barely ever speak to and think tbh he is a bit of a tool but if he called me for help I would drop everything and go help him.

My siblings know me better than I know myself and I love that we have chosen to have this strong bond in adulthood (as children they were a pain in the ass) and that we are raising our children to be as close as siblings really.

I like my youngest sister but she never contacts me and lives the other side of the country so I've given up on her. My older sister was an awful jealous bully growing up. Now as an adult she seems to believe the world owes her a living, so sponges off the state pretending she will be an artist. Never worked a day in her life. My brother was her stooge growing up. He played with us when she wasn't around but was mean when she was. So I don't have much time for him now. We are all perfectly pleasant to each other when meet up for rare family gatherings.
I work very hard to make sure my two boys don't have sibling rivalry and love each other.

I've got 4. The one who lives furthest away I'm closest to and see the most of. Other one I live closest to but hardly see but would drop anything to help each other.

Other two (are half siblings and except for a 6 month period we never lived together growing up), one is ok but we are not close, big age gap and different interests and the other is a dick! I try to keep in touch as they are family but really can't be arsed with them.

DH and I both have younger siblings who we basically love but who we find hard work. Relationships are all quite cordial now but my goodness it's taken an effort and some tongue biting on all sides. I have rarely had to work that hard with friends - I guess they wouldn't be friends if you did.

I do have a cousin I'd very happily have as a sister but we only met as adults.

There is a lot of romanticism around siblings. In reality you are often in competition for your parents' time and resources and forced to spend holidays/Christmases/long car journeys with people who know just which buttons to press to wind you up.

We have an only child who sometimes asks for a sister and DH and I just think 'be careful what you wish for'! Oddly enough, my DSis said once she had a second because she and her DH didn't want the oldest to miss out and I thought, really?!

Hmm, not sure 'like' is the right word.

As young children we were all very close. As adolescents we all didn't get on at all most of the time. Now as adults, we are all fairly close and get on most of the time. But me and one sibling are closer than either of us are with the other one. I definitely 'like' the sibling I'm closest to (and I would very much hope they'd agree that they like me, lol). The other sibling...I do love them too and our relationship is much improved but they can be very challenging sometimes! I guess on balance I would say I like them as overall it's definitely less than half the time that they're being difficult/not very nice. This sibling is the youngest though and had always been young for their age so I'm mostly hoping as they grow older and mature they will eventually stop most of their nonsense.

I'm the oldest of 4 (2 sisters and a brother)

Until the age of 16 was just me and my sister and we got on fine but due to a lot of issues on her part we don't really speak. My next sister is the one lm closer to, we are very similar in how we think and my brother (21 years difference) was born after I left home but we get on well

I’ve got lots and love them all. My relationship with all of them is different but no less special. They are all ‘good’ people, they’ve got my back and I’ve got theirs.
They will be the first people I want to see when lockdown is lifted

To point out that younger sister and brother have same mum but different father to me

DH on the other hand only has one sibling, they were very close throughout childhood and adolescence. Now as adults they only see each other a few times a year even though we moved back to the area a couple of years ago, as BIL is just not at all invested in their relationship. DH definitely does not 'like' his DB even though they get on ok overall as DH just doesn't bring up the stuff he doesn't like, what would be the point I guess. They're not close anymore though obviously. Sad.

I like and respect my brother as a person, but we have quite different personalities and interests so we don't see each other very often.

@HelenaJustina I think you've hit the nail on the head with who you can rely on actually. For me, this is the defining characteristic of my relationships with friends and family - who can I be confident I could rely on them if I was facing a challenging situation and urgently needed help? With me, I know without any doubt I could rely on 1 sibling, and theyve proved it to me. The other sibling, I'm not confident I could rely on - maybe in some situations but likely not in all of them, and it would likely depend on their mood and whether they can be bothered at the time, which is obviously not reliable! And then DH's DB, DH knows he cannot rely on him - which he has sadly proved before. For us I think having a child was also something that helped us really realise who we can and cannot rely on when we really need it.

My parents were both dead before 70 and I only have one sibling, my DB. He was a bully to us all growing up and I can't forget it. Even his wife left him. Very LC, not spoken for nearly two years. Which is sad, as my extended family are all over the country so I have no-one on my side that I ever have contact with.

Nope

My sister is lovely. Everyone adores her, our mother, extended family, strangers - everyone. Everyone except me. Only I see how manipulative she is.

Don't get me wrong, she's funny and generous, my children adore her. But she always gets her way about everything and only I see it. We never argue. It's not worth it. She's lovely and nobody would believe me.

There was the meal for our extended family (when they were all in the country for a wedding) which I wasn't invited to and only found out about when my niece posted it on social media. I wasn't invited because 'I would be busy at work.' If they had made it 30 minutes later I could have got there, but guess who was in the wrong when I replied to my (adult) niece's post saying 'not quite all the family because some weren't invited'

There is also the fact that she basically annexes our mother so I don't get to see her on important days. She's getting really good at that. But that's for another post I guess.

I longed for a sister as a child and would love to have a close relationship, but she has never been interested in having that with me.

I have 2DBs and 1DS. Get on ok-ish with DS but we have nothing in common at all and I suspect that when my DM dies we won't really have much contact at all.

1DB I wouldn't spit on if he was on fire. Sounds harsh...but he is a despicable human being...both my other siblings feel the same way.

The other DB is great, but we live at opposite ends of the country. Sad as it sounds, we only ever meet at family weddings and funerals. If we weren't family, great as he is, we wouldn't be friends I don't think, so again, once my DM dies we probably won't see each other much.

My own children are very close.

My sister is very "me,me,me" but on the rare occasions we meet we get on and I enjoy her company. .
Brother lives abroad which is just as well.

I don't get on with my sister. She is 13 years older than me and has always hated me since the day I was born.
She moved away to university when she was 18 and we've only ever had sporadic contact since. She is nearly 50 now. She has always been single and has no children. When I had my 2 children she became extremely jealous of them and didn't like my parents paying attention to their grandkids!! She decided to go no contact with us 5 years ago and has never even met my daughter. I think she is a pathetic excuse of a person and hope I never have to see or speak to her again

We don’t really get on, no. We don’t see DH’s sister at all.

I envy close families. My sibling is bossy presumes or answers for you. I have my own mind thanks! Sometimes just not much in common. Passive agressive at times. But reading these they are alot of us! Her kids are lovely.

I have two sisters and two brothers. Large age gap with two brothers and one sister. DB1 and DS1 left home when I was around three so not close to them, DB2 lived locally didn't really get involved much in mine and DS2 childhood but we are really close now as adults in fact every year we go away together with DS2 who is my best friend even though she doesn't even live in this country! I chose the same age gap between me and DS2 for my older DD's, they fight and make up I don't see anything wrong with that they need to learn how to win an argument

No. My sibling has always regarded me as beneath her. We have not one thing in common & she's the most negative, sour person you'll ever meet. She only likes people she can dominate so every friend is a submissive, gentle 'waif: type who let's her rule the roost.

I have one older brother, who I love very much. I'm male too.

We're both in our early 40s now and probably only speak a couple of times a year. Which might sound weird but it's just the way we are. He is immensely likable and it's not an act. We love talking when we do.

We fought like mad as kids. We never stopped. I thought he was a thug and he thought I was a smug intellectual. Not sure either of us were entirely wrong at the time. We got a grudging respect going through our teens and got on really well around the time he moved out.

There's a couple of things that made a big impact on how I feel about him.

Firstly when I was about 13 some real shit happened in our family. I don't want to go into details but my parents, who have been wonderful parents for all the rest of my life, both uh... lost their way a bit. I found out years later that my brother shielded me completely to the extent I was never even aware of any of it.

Secondly, when he was in his early twenties he got with a young single mum and dedicated his life to them. He built as strong a bridge with the dad as possible to create a nice atmosphere for the kid. When she turned 18 she told him she loved all three of them but he had been the strongest parent who she'd felt she could always count on. Years later I got with a single mum, and he was my absolute role model. I followed his example and it's the best thing I've ever done.

I mean, when I was 11 he locked me in a wardrobe for a couple of hours and when at my sixteenth birthday party, with several girls I really fancied present, I opened his gift and was presented with novelty "small penis condoms" and things like that... but yeah, I love him.

I care about my siblings but we are not close and are very different. I find them really boring company and I shudder at their politics (quietly quite right wing). However I am close with my grown up nieces and nephews and I love a big family get together.