1. You could always blame something you had done on your siblings – well, provided they weren’t around that is!
2. Christmas was a mad, raucous affair and we loved it.
3. Having loads of siblings meant we had a bunch of ready-made mates at home.
4. We developed a very thick skin. Well wouldn’t you if your older siblings decided to christen you Miss Piggy because you were a little chubby and had curly hair?
5. We learned how to speak up – how else would we be heard over the din?
6. Our older siblings ‘had our back’ in school.
7. We had bunk beds – and the novelty never wore off!
8. We could share our siblings’ toys. “You give me a go on you BMX and I’ll give you my skates” was the kind of deal being put on the table on a daily basis.
9. We could steal our older sister’s makeup and clothes. Sure, it wasn’t fun when our younger sister did the same to us when we got older, but hey, we had to good grace to accept that it was karma.
10. Sometimes our poor parents were so overwhelmed by who ACTUALLY did it (‘it’ being the latest heinous thing we were getting blamed for) they’d just send us all to bed – if we were the guilty party we’d be off the hook.
11. We shared heaps of hilarious in-jokes (that we still laugh about now).
12. We knew our children would have loads of brilliant aunties and uncles when we grew up.
13. We had endless fodder to laugh about like our sister’s new perm or our brother’s first girlfriend.
14. There was a LOT of birthday cake.
15. We shared a room with so many siblings that bedtime was like a sleepover.
16. We could play team sport games without recruiting any of the neighbours.
17. While our siblings often drove us demented, if anything ever went wrong they were the first to offer their love and support.
18. We learned the importance of sharing. Not that it didn’t kill us at times to hand over our precious toys or sweets.
19. Family events like weddings and birthdays were always the BEST craic.
20. Our older siblings were our role models and we could learn from their mistakes and successes.
Can you relate mums? What were your experiences growing up with a large family? We'd love to hear from you!
