There’s an abundance of scientific research made on how having siblings affects our lives. Sometimes best friends, sometimes rivals, they are a quintessential part of our lives and there’s not much we can do about them.

No wonder, after many years without contact, people feel an urge to reconnect with their brothers and sisters as no matter what, they’re still the closest people they have.

So when someone posed a question “What’s something that people without siblings will never understand?” it surely hit a soft spot for many. Thousands of people started sharing their experiences and it clearly seems like life with siblings is full of weirdly particular quirks that they feel like only they can get.

#1

You don’t apologize after a fight, you just start talking to them again

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#2

“Please don’t tell mum! Look, you can hit me back!”

Image credits: HarpyFA

#3

Ownership of the TV remote was a matter of life or death

Image credits: beerbellybegone

#4

Why it’s a bad idea to put a light switch OUTSIDE the bathroom door

Image credits: kuro-oruk

#5

Having someone who is both an accomplice and a rival

Image credits: zombiebane

#6

“Dude come here”

“Why?”

“I wanna show you something”

“No, you’re gonna hit me”

Image credits: cheese-blanket

#7

The fact that as the oldest sibling you may give the younger siblings s**t. But nobody else is allowed to give them s**t.

You also love them more than they could ever know.

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#8

Having to hide your snacks because they’ll be gone in seconds

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#9

Making your sibling laugh so their cries are not credible

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#10

Hating someone who is literally just sitting in the same room as you and isn’t doing anything, just their presence is annoying

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#11

You may give your kidney but you will never give that tv remote

#12

Getting offered something by your parents, saying no, and then when you see them ask your sibling, you’re like, ‘Wait a minute, I want that.’

Image credits: AmusedCoffee02

#13

Idk if its just my siblings but they would come up to my door and just stand there. “What do you want”, nothing just dead silence. And then they walk away with your door wide open

Image credits: TheSpicyCabbage

#14

Specifically for older siblings:

The wave of fear that shudders through you at the moment that your younger sibling breaks into tears within earshot of your parents because of something you did.

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#15

Only the powerful or fast get to take hot showers

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#16

The amount of blackmail you have on each other that creates a Cold War scenario

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#17

That’s it’s possible to love someone who you usually hate

Image credits: EasternRayz

#18

When your younger sibling is allowed to do things at his young age that you were not allowed to do.

For example :

He could go to bed whenever he wanted at the age of 12 when I was forbidden to go to bed past 10 PM at his age.

He got in trouble for worse s**t than me, but got punished less. (Wayyy less)

He got his phone earlier than me.

When he got bad grades at school, my parents scolded him for a few minutes then forgot about it. When I had bad grades, I would be punished (no computer/video games for a week, grounded for a week, etc..)

That was pretty infuriating.

(For instance, I’m 23 and he’s 15)

Image credits: Crystalide

#19

Literally dehydrating yourself so you don’t lose the prime seat that if you get up from, will be stolen within seconds

Image credits: patheticgurl

#20

It’s so satisfying finally being player one when you were player 2 for years

Image credits: megaman0781

#21

“Mom said it’s my turn to play the Xbox”

Image credits: Imtherealwierdly

#22

Having a completely different perspective on your childhood is interesting. I have a brother and a sister and their memory of the household when we were kids is completely different than mine.

#23

The soul crushing grief when one passes away.

Also the connection to another human being that can validate your experiences. Having someone who can say, “yes, that really happened.”.

My younger sister passes suddenly about three years ago. I have a younger brother as well and we were all able to call each other when we had nightmares to figure out if it was a memory or a dream. We were each other’s PTSD support group.

My brother is currently living with and caring for our elderly father who was our tormentor for decades. I could not love or appreciate him more. I tried. I couldn’t do it. He is still abusive and aggressive. When my brother gets overwhelmed, I am only a phone call away, to listen, validate and support him. We are all each other has and I know that I will always have his back and vice versa. Siblings are as big a blessing later in life as they are imagined a curse when growing up.

#24

Siblings are the only people (mostly) around the same age you spent your entire childhood with, if you complain about the annoying habits of your parents, they will understand. And I can still call my brother “little brother” even though we’re both in our late thirties and he’s taller than I am

#25

How to love someone who’s a total pain in the arse

#26

Oldest gets the front seat. I am the eldest of 4 and had a monopoly on that front seat until we were all old enough to have our own cars

Image credits: 1HeyMattJ

#27

“Look out your own window” – every car journey

#28

The best part is how you have a lot of anger towards them for something they did, yet the next minute you are still willing to drop everything for them and carry on as nothing happened.

#29

“I’m not touching you”

#30

Older sibling here. Getting in trouble for EVERYTHING.

#31

Having someone to complain about your parents to. I love my parents very much, but they are crazy sometimes

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#32

The invisible line down the exact middle of the back seat of the car.

#33

no one:

not even a single soul:

my brother: u wanna fight huh let’s fight

Image credits: datkumbayas**t

#34

Having someone to talk to that 100% understands you as a person. Has the same humor, emotional responses. Someone you can be totally vulnerable and real with and never worry about judgment or their love flickering. My brother is my best friend, we’ve served as anchors for each other for decades and I love him unlike anyone else.

#35

This is one younger siblings might not understand.

The moment you realize that your little brother or sister is their own person, and that they no longer idolize you as everything that they want to be.

He used to look up to me as the coolest guy in the world. I knew things he didn’t, I could do things he couldn’t, he would do any favor I asked him, he would even talk about me positively when I wasn’t around. I played with him sometimes, but I also feel like I dismissed him, yelled at him, and fought with him too much. It wasn’t abusive, but I know I’ve badly hurt him before, emotionally and physically.

Now I’m out of the house, and he’s got his own high school life to deal with, and I’m rarely on his mind. Soon we’ll both be adults, and he’s essentially gonna become a peer akin to an “old buddy”.

Image credits: D**kcheese_McDoogles

#36

The ever-changing alliances, is my brother on my side or my sister’s side today?

Image credits: beerbellybegone

#37

Having to give stuff up to your younger sibling

#38

Having to sprint to the bathroom after saying something mean or throwing the last punch because it’s the only room in the house that locks.

And then struggling to get the door closed behind you as they start beating and kicking it down like you are in some kind of psycho killer horror movie.

At that moment all care for anyone’s safety goes out the window. But the relief you feel when you finally get that door closed is immense… until you inevitably have to open it…

#39

When me and my brother were kids everything had to be equally shared. Especially food.

To the point where we put the glasses side by side to get exactly the same amount of juice for each one. I recall one time we counted the amount of Pringles chips and split them into two equal amounts. The crumbles and broken chips went to parents of course.

#40

Having your sister, and her friends, dress you up in their clothes, put on makeup, and make you prance around the house to Britney Spears. That happened to everyone else, right?

Image credits: notathrowawayoris

#41

If your mother doesn’t have enough money to buy one for each one no one gets anything.

#42

Hand-me-down clothes:

Knowing that I would “inherit” my older brother’s clothes, he’d take me shopping with him so we could together choose things he’d like and that I’d eventually enjoy wearing once they became mine.

Image credits: Back2Bach

#43

Being hit by your sister but being taught that you can’t hit girls

Image credits: J0uke

#44

If you’re the oldest sibling: seeing how much more lenient your parents become and how much more your younger siblings can get away with than you did.

#45

The unfairness of waiting until you’re old enough to get something you’ve wanted forever only to have your younger sibling also get one at 4 years younger.

I’m still not over getting a computer at 11 after asking for three years only to hear my parents say “you’re not old enough,” then my younger sister gets one not a week later at 7 years old.

#46

Feel that your mom loves your sibling more than you even if she’s denying it

#47

As an older brother, you become overprotective of your siblings in certain situations. If I get a bad vibe on the guy my sister is interested in, I will put the fear of god in said person.

#48

All siblings have their own weird language and ways of communicating that no one else can possibly understand

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#49

A moment of quiet at home.

#50

The Little Brother Screech. It occurs when the inferior brother has realized that he has committed an impulsive, grave offense against the superior one…an offense that has crossed a line. And he realizes this just slightly too late, beyond the point at which anything can be changed. Having seen the flash of fury in your eyes, he now sees his life flash before his own. He knows he is about to suffer, deservedly so, and all he can do is scream in existential terror, because he is powerless in the face of the inevitable, and nothing–not even Mom–can save him.

#51

Parents trying to extract info about the others from you.

#52

From a social perspective, I’m essentially an acquaintance of my sister but I’d still perish to save her life

#53

Getting REALLY good at ganging up on Mom to piss her off

#54

One moment you guys are cool but then the next you are beating each other up

#55

Trying to wrestle your older sibling

#56

Eating things you don’t actually want at that moment because if you don’t have them now they’ll be gone and you’ll never get them. I call it defensive snacking

#57

Food tax.

Older sibling nice enough to warm up leftover pizza for you, but it comes with a HUGE bite taken out of it.

#58

The “I’m not in your room. I’m in the doorway” s**t

#59

Spending an hour looking for that one shirt, pants whatever that would match your outfit PERFECTLY! Going to school with something else on

Only to come home to find your brother wearing that very shirt/pants you’ve been looking for.

And trying your ABSOLUTE best not to go after him

#60

The exhilarating rush of that first time you call shotgun before your older sibling

#61

Sharing. It’s simple, but I’ve never met an only child who truly understands how to share.

E: I know there are plenty of people without siblings who are capable of sharing, but it’s learned in a different way. Growing up, my friends and I had the constant threat of “it’s your sister’s turn with x” looming over us, even if the object, food, activity, etc., was entirely ours. Even now that I’m 25 I am still prepared daily for my sister to knock on my door and ask if there’s a laptop charger she can borrow.

#62

That regularly insulting each other and flipping each other off is a sign of love. It’s when we don’t do that that something is wrong!

#63

Getting your a** beat by an older sibling and then offering each other tater tots to make it up

#64

Having an older sibling come into your room without asking but you can’t tell them to get out because they’re several years older and won’t listen to you, so you have to deal with them being in your room for no reason.

Image credits: Deblebsgonnagetyou

#65

Being a human remote control when your older sibling can’t find the remote.

#66

That it is like a game of Survivor. Alliances, games, someone wins, someone is voted off the island

#67

no one says “sis” or “bro” to their siblings

#68

Looking up to your big brother who’s five years older. Especially when he was 16 and I was 11 I genuinely thought he was the coolest person on earth, Pretty sure he thought I was really annoying. I would always hang out in his room when I was bored. It was when I was around 16, 17ish and he was about 22 that we started to get along really well. Sort of the way we did before he hit puberty. We are mostly known as the crazy Scheibler brothers. Even our older sister always remarks on how kuku we sometimes behave. He is one of maybe two people I know with whom I can talk about everything while eating some sushi and downing some vodka.

#69

Realizing you were probably the “plan A that didn’t work out”

#70

Going to watch them play sports. Why does it seem that a 1-hour game takes a lifetime?

#71

Having your parents call you your siblings name.

#72

That if you don’t get enough food with your first serving, you probably won’t get seconds! Or you have to literally inhale your food.

On a random (lol) side note, I eat my food really quickly now and get very upset when people eat “my” food, even if there’s plenty of it.

#73

getting hit with various game console remotes. the worst one for me was a Wii remote with the Mario kart wheel attachment

#74

Resenting your sibling who lives in the same city as your parent but isn’t doing anything to help your ailing mother making you drive 3 hours each way weekly to make sure she doesn’t starve or be mistreated.

#75

closing that TV thing with your hands so your sibling can’t change the channel you are currently watching

#76

The differences in how each sibling is raised or treated by the parents

#77

Basing your career choices on your big siblings out of competitiveness for your parent’s love, approval, and the power hierarchy

#78

Having to share almost everything
Source: boredpanda.com