How did you influence a sibling?
My sister once asked me to help her gather some good data about journalists’ experiences in a foreign country. Since I’m in the data gathering field, I knew about an online survey website that might not be blocked by the government of that country.
Setting up a simple survey, she was able to easily gather information that had been hard to track before. She was able to use this information to advocate for journalists’ rights. She said it made a big difference.
Despite that, now that she is no longer a journalist, the people who took over from her are not really able to understand the importance of what she had been doing. I guess you have to learn to understand data before you can use it effectively, and a lot of journalists think it’s just a simple thing. Oh well.
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I was looked up to by both my siblings, and they tried to use examples from my life to make theirs better.
The one exception to this was when my sister blamed not being popular in school on the fact that her older brother and sister had ruined it for her. Through out her life, she has always been quick to blame on her problems on things outside her own behavior.
I was the youngest of four siblings—with a considerable age gap (6–10 years older). I think they influenced me a lot more than I influenced them.
I taught my oldest sister how to ride a bike. Does that count?
@wundayatta and @YARNLADY Were you guys the eldest? What was the age gap between you and your siblings?
@Nimis My brother, sister and I were all born within months of each other. Brother first, December 28, me, one month after his first birthday, my sister the following January 12, two weeks before I even had my first birthday.
My brother was born with Schizophrenia and always seemed younger than me.
@Nimis yes, that counts. And I am the oldest. My sister is almost four years younger than I am.
I told my younger brother to lighten up, take things easy & you know what, he listened.
Now….“He ain’t heavy, he’s my brother”
See, told you.
@YARNLADY My older sister is schizophrenic as well. It’s weird because she had such an influence on me growing up. More so than any of my other siblings. (Taught me how to read and write, tie my shoes, throw and hit a ball, etc.) These days, the dynamic seems to have flipped.
The other day was her birthday and I called to wish her a Happy Birthday. She laughed and said it was the only day of the year when she remembers that she’s older than me. It was a semi-lucid moment for her. She’s been having less of those lately. :(
There are six of us so it can get fairly complicated sometimes. We use one another as sounding boards (some more than others). Sometimes sibling rivalry rears its ugly head…to my dismay. Since my mother died I’ve found that my siblings lean on me more than they do on each other (all those years of therapy have come in handy).
I suppose, with some of my siblings, my influence is greater than it’s ever been. I’m not sure I like that though.
Our family has been in varying degrees of crisis since my mom died. Moral dilemmas abound.
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