Sibling. A person you spend the first parts of your life with. They can be a built-in best friend or your sworn enemy. Despite occasional troubles, a relationship between siblings can be special.
One unavoidable commonality among all siblings is the trivial arguments that ensue with them.
“We argue about who takes the first shower in our house, and we tried to create a system, but he wouldn’t follow the system, so it didn’t work out,” Abby Mitchell (10) said.
Being family does not necessarily mean that all siblings are best friends. The connection between sister and brother Katie Gumecindo (10) and Joshua Gumecindo (9) more resembles one of close friends to an extent.
“I wouldn’t say we have the headbutting too much, but I wouldn’t say we’re close and best friends because we’re not,” Katie said. “We’re kinda like close friends. We would be very realistic to each other but also be supportive in situations where the other might be in distress.”
Sibling relationships can fluctuate depending on the point in time as well as age gap. For Katie and Joshua, being close in age has allowed them to relate to each other more.
“We can leave space and still [be able to] get along with each other fine,” Joshua said.
Despite sharing DNA and being raised in the same environment, siblings are often opposites. Engaging in different hobbies and activities and appreciating different things is common within sibling relationships.
“[Our relationship] is interesting to say the least,” Mitchell said. “He and I are fairly close in age and also being different genders plays a lot into our relationship with each other, I think. We’re total opposites in our personality and we butt heads a lot.”
Sibling relationships are dynamic, with each person influencing and being influenced by the other. Sibling personalities often complement each other.
“I think that’s the good thing between us because we counteract each other. We just find the middle ground, between the two,” Joshua said.
Any relationship is full of compromise, and family is no different in order to embrace each other’s interests and find the middle ground. For example, Abby and her brother, Carter Mitchell (9), have found a way to include both of their music tastes.
“We have very different music tastes which I feel like is common, but he can’t drive, so when I drive us around we have a Spotify blended playlist to play both of our songs together,” Mitchell said.
Because they are close in age, only one year and three weeks apart, Katie and Joshua are one grade apart. Joshua believes that spending time with Katie has allowed him to make more connections.
“She definitely helps me interact more,” Joshua said. “I am more closed off and reserved and most of the time, if I didn’t spend anywhere near as much time with her, I wouldn’t know anyone. Everyone I know in high school has been through Mean Girls which she convinced me to do.”
As siblings get older, the relationship can become less rocky and more balanced. As understanding increases, so does the ability to agree on things.
“I feel like we get along more now than we did when we were younger,” Mitchell said. “As we’ve gotten to a similar point in our lives in high school, we both relate to each other on certain things and even though we have varying interests, we have common things. We are more cordial than we used to be as youngins.”