https://lauravanderkam.com/2021/12/siblings/ Writer, Author, Speaker Fri, 10 Dec 2021 16:42:11 +0000 hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.7.2 https://lauravanderkam.com/2021/12/siblings/#comment-295800 Thu, 09 Dec 2021 19:13:30 +0000 https://lauravanderkam.com/?p=18311#comment-295800 I am 14 years older than my youngest sister and I loved what you wrote here. I also have a bigger age spread among my kids (youngest 7, oldest 15) and am realizing the number of years left with them all here are limited. We must treasure these noisy messy days because they will not last.

]]> https://lauravanderkam.com/2021/12/siblings/#comment-295380 Wed, 08 Dec 2021 18:55:50 +0000 https://lauravanderkam.com/?p=18311#comment-295380 Ah yes, I definitely experienced this as 1 of 5 with a 17 year (!!!!) range from youngest to oldest! My mom talks about how, when I was a young toddler, I would only let my older sister feed me. We only have 2 kids and that is all we will have but I can already see a sweet relationship developing between the boys. The older brother is the baby’s favorite person, even though he’s constantly taking toys away from him, and taking over toys that the baby receives for gifts! We won’t have the helpers that you do but that is one big benefit of a big family. My parents went many years w/out needing a babysitter since the olders could always watch the youngers! And then when you have drivers, it gets even better. My older siblings had to help w/ taking us places, although we had way less going on than the average kid does these days since we lived in a rural area where there wasn’t much in terms of activities/extracurriculars. But ever extra driver still made a big difference for my busy working parents!

]]> https://lauravanderkam.com/2021/12/siblings/#comment-295368 Wed, 08 Dec 2021 18:31:05 +0000 https://lauravanderkam.com/?p=18311#comment-295368 I sent your piece to my siblings. I am the oldest of five so I can definitely relate to your thoughts, my youngest sister is 13 years behind me a similar spread to your oldest and youngest.

]]> https://lauravanderkam.com/2021/12/siblings/#comment-295354 Wed, 08 Dec 2021 17:57:10 +0000 https://lauravanderkam.com/?p=18311#comment-295354 Aaaw, that’s such a sweet bond.

]]> https://lauravanderkam.com/2021/12/siblings/#comment-295339 Wed, 08 Dec 2021 17:20:43 +0000 https://lauravanderkam.com/?p=18311#comment-295339 Yes! All so true. I am starting to feel college looming (in 4 years) and I know the one who will miss the oldest one tremendously is the youngest one. Sibling are truly the best.

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