Having an older brother is nice most of the time, but it also brings on a greater load of pressure and comparisons whereas only children don't really get compared to other people as much. Having a sibling is like having a huge shadow over you all the time. You try to get out of it, but it always seems to follow you around and you can't shake it. You are always compared to their milestones and you're expected to live up to their reputation, and when you can't people criticize you for it.
I'm constantly compared to my brother even though we're total opposites. People don't seem to realize that even though we're share the same set of parents, we are not connected to each other's actions. My parents are always comparing my brother to me as well, and I see how it makes him feel and I don't like it. I don't want someone to be compared to me, as I don't want to be compared to someone else. We both have our different strengths and weaknesses. My parents tell me that they restrict my actions because they don't want me to go the same route my brother went. Isn't the whole point of a childhood to forge your own way through the beginnings of life? I want to be able to make my own mistakes and not have a support net beneath me to catch me every time.
I'm not going to make the same mistakes my brother did, and if I do, then those mistakes will be my own. I view mistakes as learning experiences, so they're not something to be scared about. You can try and try, only to crash and burn, but you know that if you're hit rock bottom, you have no where else to go but up.
Looking from the other side of the spectrum, having a sibling is pretty darn convenient at times. Like, did you know that my parents originally bought the piano in our house for my brother? After he quit, it was thrust upon me, and I really enjoy playing it. To think, that if my brother hadn't wanted to play piano, that we wouldn't have gotten one. Music is a huge part of my life and it helps me channel some of my anger into it.
Also, having an older brother is cool sometimes because I know I can ask him about things that I can't talk to my parents about (not sex, if that's you perverted people are thinking about). Like, I can go to him if my MacBook suddenly explodes into flames and he'll try and fix it (well, there's not much you can do about a MacBook that's exploded but anyways...). He's also been through some experiences that I haven't gone through yet, and he can give me some advice to get through them.
So, let it be known that Alex is Alex and Charlie is Charlie; I am not my brother's mistakes. So, what do you think are the pros and cons of having siblings?
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