My Kids

[mjl]

I had a sister three years younger than me, and I would have been absolutely thrilled if we were never in the same room. She wasn't bad or anything, I just had zero interest in her and whatever she was doing. Much rather be reading or playing on my Apple II+ or whatever. It is amazing that my six-year-old cares so much about my two-year-old and takes care of her so well. They occasionally fight about sharing things but the older one is sleeping on the couch now because the toddler likes sharing a bed but she steals all the covers, and she doesn't want the baby to cry so she doesn't make her use the crib.

(p.s. this was originally the post I made in the politics board, which was in the wrong place, and apparently I can't delete my post or actually change the title.)

[B-Fly]

Yeah, my kids generally seem to like each other a heck of a lot more than my brother and I did growing up, as well. Most of the time it's great, but they can also go apoplectic if one gets in a mood and withholds attention.

[Judge Jude]

one of my nephews got married on Saturday, and his big brother gave a toast.

much humor, but as the oldest of 4 (groom is second-oldest), he said he seriously as a kid asked his mom/my sister, "After you had me, why did you bother having any other kids?"

he said while he was told that his parents didn't want him to be lonely, he just always thought of his little brother as his "sidekick."
toast-er went through some difficult times last year, and groom was key to getting him through.

"So I found out that I don't have a sidekick after all - he is my hero!"

AWWs filled the room - well, it was an outdoor wedding but you get the idea

I come from a brood of 5 kids. My oldest brother is 10+ years older, and he moved out to go to college around my 8th birthday. he wasn't into sports, either, and is very quiet (Masters in Library Science from Columbia). my sisters are 5 and 3 years older, and growing up they were even further along on the maturity level than that. my twin brother and I don't look at all alike, and we have opposite personalities as well - which is great, frankly. he has never played fantasy sports, though we are now both in a 13-man weekly PGA golf pool.
the only one I fought with much was my 3-years-older sister, but now not since we were teenagers. we grew out of it.

[revo]

Much like mjl, I only had a younger sister (1 1/2 yrs), and yes, I usually did not get involved in her activities, which is sad. I always wondered how my childhood would have been like with a brother who liked everything I did.

Now I have 3 sons (11, 8 & 6) and it's interesting. My oldest son is hugely into sports but the younger two really aren't, and while they play video games together, my older son always bullies my younger two and the fighting is crazy among them.

[Moonlight J]

Mine are 13 and 10 now, and they can stand each other about 20% of the time. Both are involved in dance, but my daughter is at a very high level now. They do well together during board games and stuff at the pool, but there is near zero overlap in their social circles as my son is mostly a loner (yay, Asbergers) as he has rather awkward social skills that other kids in this area struggle with.

[hacko]

I came from a family of five - 1 girl the oldest and 4 boys . There is 4 years between everyone but me(Oldest boy) I had a brother 15 months younger then me and the class behind me in school. It was like growing up being a twin . We played everything together and tried to beat each other at everything. We had boxing gloves so if we got mad we just head to the basement and fight it out . The other 2 were 5 and 9 years younger so we were forced to drag them along for the neighborhood ball games .

Fast forward to last year we all went to Cleveland's spring training ( see avatar ) minus my close brother who past and had a blast. All 5 of us are into sports?q

[DMT]

I was the oldest of three. My brother is three years younger and I always brought him out with my friends in HS, and he's in my fantasy baseball league, the rest being college friends. My sister is five years younger and we didn't get along all that well.

My daughters are 21 months apart (7 1/2, almost 6) and they look very similar and play together all the time. Of course there is fighting but I love it that they are so close.

[Kevin Seitzer]

Mine are 13 and 10 now, and they can stand each other about 20% of the time. Both are involved in dance, but my daughter is at a very high level now. They do well together during board games and stuff at the pool, but there is near zero overlap in their social circles as my son is mostly a loner (yay, Asbergers) as he has rather awkward social skills that other kids in this area struggle with.

My experience is similar. My oldest two used to be fast friends, but as my oldest (daughter) reached the teen years, she and my younger (son) became like oil and water and fight/bicker constantly. Their differences became more important than their similarities. My wife says she and her younger brother did the same while growing up, and that they became friends again in high school, so I'm holding out some hope for improvement.

[Fresno Bob]

my "kids" are 20, 17 and 15, boy boy girl. They all kind of travel in their own worlds, but are better together than I would have guessed. My middle son is incredibly socially awkward stemming from significant vision issues, so his only real friends are his siblings, or the kids of friends of mine.

My wife is the 3rd of 7 children over a 20 year span, I only have a sister that is 18 months younger than me, so we had very very different childhoods

[ironfist]

My girls (9 and 7) are both best friends and each other's biggest pain in the ass. Probably lean more on the best friends side, because whenever they are apart, they always want the other one to be there. I'm happy they're both close in age so they can take part in activities together. They're so different though that I hope they won't grow apart when they get older. My brother and I were similarly close in age and we did play a lot together, though we definitely didn't get along a lot. We're not that close these days even with our kids being close in age.

[nullnor]

in 1981 when we were like 11, me and my friend figured how to go around the protection on AppleII+ game horse racing and renamed all the horses with dirty porno themed names or drug ones. and then we couldn't remember what the good horses were anymore, which kind of ruined the game.

porno horse racing

[hacko]

My girls (9 and 7) are both best friends and each other's biggest pain in the ass. Probably lean more on the best friends side, because whenever they are apart, they always want the other one to be there. I'm happy they're both close in age so they can take part in activities together. They're so different though that I hope they won't grow apart when they get older. My brother and I were similarly close in age and we did play a lot together, though we definitely didn't get along a lot. We're not that close these days even with our kids being close in age.

My siblings and I stay close by group texting. One lives in California , Boston and 2 of us here in Ohio. Perfect example was last night - Brown's playing exhibition game - we were all watching and texting - just like we were sitting in the same room. During the Cavs / Indians run of 2016 it was party time any time they played. We usually have some group text every night about something. Fires in California - Snow in Boston - Parent issues in Ohio. We talk more now then when we lived together . Technology can be a wonderful thing when used for good not evil.

[Teenwolf]

I grew up with a sister 1.5 years younger, but 2 grade levels so it felt like a wider gap. We had a really awful stepdad from the time I was 8-15, so that gave us a common enemy. He used to bully us, and I know it stuck with my sister her entire life. He would call her "donkey teeth" among other things. When he went away by the time we were in high school, we started to fight more (bad parental upbringing), but we get along well now. She has a 7 month old girl in Australia, so I hope we aren't isolated for decades now but it could be.

I have an 11 year old daughter, and I've only been in the same city for 3 years now after previously only getting a couple visits per year. She's growing up quick, and my wife and I are trying to have a baby to fill the void... she has 2 younger sisters and they get along great.

I love seeing the extreme differences in personality that emerge in kids from the same parents.

[Ken]

I love seeing the extreme differences in personality that emerge in kids from the same parents.

That's my girls. I have a 4 year old and a 6 year old and they could not be more opposite. The 6 year old is reserved, anxious, overly dramatic and easily upset, but a complete sweetheart. The 4 year old we call the wrecking ball, she lives life with complete reckless abandon, always has a smile on her face and couldn't care less what anyone else thinks. Right now they get along half the time and bite and claw at each other the other half. Hoping they become closer as they get older.