Ok, I've always been curious...How many siblings in your family?

[Jill]

I have one younger sister, named Robin. She is 2 years younger than I am. She is a teacher (reading specialist) with two Masters degrees and mom to my nephews, Jonah and Elias

:

When we were growing up, Robin was such a goodie two shoes but she would do things constantly to "make" me get in trouble. Mom would yell at me to go to my room and as I'm stomping off, my goody goody sister is hugging my mom saying "I love you, Mommy." URGH! It was unreal.

When we were getting along, then I'd do mean things (not to be mean, but still...) like get her to lay flat out in the field like she was dead so maybe I could catch a vulture (I was a tom boy).

As kids, a lot of the time I could not stand her. I mean, didn't want her to touch me, didn't want to be near her, wouldn't eat after her, etc. Now we are close but I swear, she is the dumbest smart person I know (very smart, but not much common sense at times / very gullable).

 

[Miniv]

I was the middle girl with two brothers. My older brother and I were close, but he was killed just before I turned 16. My younger brother had various learning problems and anger management issues and was sent to a boarding school for several years. So, for a couple of years until I left for college I was sort of the "only child". My younger brother and I never were close and after both of our parents passed we didn't see eachother for several years. But in the last few, we've been making an effort to at least be in touch.

Larry grew up in an Italian family that had two boys and two girls. They are all fairly close, but Larry lives on the West Coast and they are on the East Coast, so he only sees them once or twice a year.

MA

 

[Teedee]

Okay I will play on this one. I have 6 brothers and 5 sisters. 3 sisters have passed away and one brother. My parents have passed away too. I don't think we were a family more like a herd. But I was never lonely and always had someone to play with. We even took in a couple of strays. I remember our house was always full of laughter and fun.

Tammi

 

[minimama]

Well, lets see if I can count them all.

I grew up with on e brother, but we were both adopted and no blood relation. When I was 18 my mother had a baby so I then had to raise my youngest brother, thats two. Then I found my birth mother and found I had three more, two sisters and a brother, thats five. Then I found my brothers birth family adn we are all close, and he has a sister and a brother, but, his birth mother adopted two children so he has another sister and a brother and we all consider ourselves brothers and sisters too, so, that takes teh toll to 9. But that is just his birth mothers side so, we found his birth father who was quite the player in teh service and found he had children around teh world...hee hee hee are we having fun yet?? My brother has five more siblings so far on his birth fathers side. That takes my toll to 14. Christmas gets confusing but never dull!

edited to add: Oh my goodness, I completely forgot MY birthfather. Sheesh! Ok so, I have five brothers and two sisters on that side as well. So, that takes teh total to 21...OMG!!!!!

You do not have to include me in the contest as mine are so weirdly placed, I just thought everyone would get a kick out of my story.

 

[CAM]

My goodness! I think a few of you are going to deserve a gift. At the very least, your mothers!! :new_shocked:

Thanks for elaborating on your childhoods. I definitely enjoy hearing how others grew up with siblings after not having any. My favorite thing to tell my kids when they say "I'm bored" is to go tell them to get creative or go play a board game. They tell me they can't play a board game by themselves and I say "Why not? I did" Hee hee. :bgrin It did get lonely at times but you learn to be very creative to entertain yourself.

 

[Russ]

Hi Debra, neat post! I am just like you, only kiddo.

 

[Cathy_H]

I am number 10 of twleve ( and one very young sibling died from eating poison berries that I don't remember ) (13 total).. My oldest brother is 71ish............... All of us were born at home. I was born before the midwife ( my aunt) arrived.................... We were raised in the hills of Eastern Kentucky where the mountains, meadows & creeks were our entertainment. Swinging from grapevines out over hugh downslopes, going into caves, playing in the creek when we saw snakes there also. My first toy was a used doll in a food box from the church. I remember making her hats from an old bra... Dancing, playing cards - you name it - it was sin....................... We raised a huge garden in the summer to can the veggies so we could eat in the winter time. Remember stringing up bushels of green beans to hang behind the wood stove to dry so we could have leather britches (shuck beans)in the winter time. Shredding a number 3 tub full of cabbage to make sour kraut. Building a fire outside under the tub to put the half gallon jars of green beans in - stuffing old quilts around the glass jars hoping they would not break while cooking. Have picked gallons of wild blackberries for canning. I remember when we had a cow & made butter - had to keep the butter in a bucket lowered into the water well so it would not melt ( no refrigerator)............... I think we got a used small black & white TV when I was in my teens - could only watch it about one hour each night with the lights out though because couldn't waste electricity. Carried coal from a mine down the road to provide heat in the pot belly stove. Remember mom cooking on the wood cook stove in a kitchen with one small window when the outside temp was near 100.... In the winter time waming up by the stove & diving into bed loaded with 7 -8 quilts........................... I was the only child to complete high school & became a "city slicker" & above my 'raisins' when I also got an associates degree in business......The only reason I stayed in school was so I could join the Air Force & get outta that place................. A large family does not make a close family. Hard work & learning to get by on the bare necessities was the word of the day...................... Lately I have said many times if kids had to raise & tend their food in order to eat they would not be in the trouble they are today............................... Lee has said many times that I should have been an engineer as I am always coming up with some way to fix something. Nope I say, necessity is the mother of invention & when you don't have, you get used to making do with what you have - that's survival.

 

[PaintedPromiseRanch]

i have two younger brothers, we are now 45, 43 (will be 44 next week) and 40. as kids it was always a round robin of 2 against one. 2 boys again 1 girl... or 2 oldest against the youngest... or the oldest and youngest against the middle as he was "different" and we were a lot alike... now i get along with my next brother ok but we don't have much in common and usually only see each other when my mom arranges it. the other one is estranged pretty much, it's been a real rocky road every since our parents divorced 20 years ago, but the icing on the cake was when his gift check to my daughter for her wedding bounced... and it took him over a year to make good, after i nagged him to death. and he now considers ME the bad guy for nagging. well, sorry, but nobody messes with MY kids. and i would NEVER bounce a check on his kids, but if i did, you can bet he would beat me at the nagging hands down!!!

I prefer to have "chosen family" and have been very successful in chosing a wonderful extended family.

You're stuck with the family you are born into but you can choose a wonderful extended family.

yes yes yes!!!!!!!

 

[Reble]

Another adoptie was a very lucky girl at the age of 2 weeks.

Foster Mom adopted me.

Raised with 4 siblings.

When I was getting married my adopted Mom bless her soul, invited my Biological Parents.

Found out I had 6 siblings on my father's side and 2 siblings on my mother's side.

Total siblings in my life 12

: Most have past on now, but I did meet everyone of them.

Cheaper by the Dozen

 

[PaintedPromiseRanch]

It's so sad to hear that so many siblings don't get along. I have one sister and one brother and we're very close. We all live in different states but get together several times a year. Our whole family, grandparents down to the great grandkids all get along and have a blast!

count yourself very lucky!!! sure wish my family was different. but i have 3 girls of my own and hope for the future to have a family like that!

 

[anoki]

Reading this makes me sad!!!

It also makes me realize how lucky I am to have a family like I do.....and a childhood like I did. I honestly can't ever remember saying "I'm bored". We always entertained ourselves.....and we usually always had a good time!!!

: And now that my grandparents are living here, we constantly have LOTS of family around......Christmas time is great fun with 14 people ranging in age from 84-2 1/2!!!! LOL It can be just a little hectic, but we always have fun!!!

~kathryn

 

[runamuk]

I have one younger sister, named Robin. She is 2 years younger than I am. She is a teacher (reading specialist) with two Masters degrees and mom to my nephews, Jonah and Elias

:

like get her to lay flat out in the field like she was dead so maybe I could catch a vulture (I was a tom boy).

:new_rofl: :new_rofl: :new_rofl:

Oh Jill that is the best...............

:new_rofl: :new_rofl: :new_rofl: :new_rofl:

 

[MInx]

:saludando: Hi I have an identical twin sister, two half sisters, a half brother and two step brothers.Thats 7 of us which is perhaps a very unusual family but maybe not the biggest on here.

Maxine

 

[CAM]

I really enjoy hearing these stories and especially about your upbringing Cathy H with all of your brothers and sisters. I agree, a large family doesn't always make for a happy family, but it sure beats spending Christmas alone sometimes. And I mean with my husband and kids. Same thing for Thanksgiving. It certainly is nice to be able to stay in sweats all day and not have all the noise on occasion, but I grew up having big family gatherings with aunts and uncles--parents were both from families of seven (maybe that speaks for itself since they only had one-me

--and I do miss that. We have been trying to invite friends over but it is a rare occasion when they aren't spending the holidays with their families.

I think we may get one, maybe two after Christmas to come for a visit but Christmas will be just Steve and I and the kids. My mom lives a few miles away but that is another can of worms altogether.

:

 

[Buckskin gal]

I am 3rd in a family of four boys and four girls! Having ornery brothers was no fun! They done everything they could to make my life miserable such as locking me in closets or scaring the woobers out of me. The hard part of it was my mother never did discipline them because she loved boys and would only say, "boys will be boys." Big families aren't always close families as some people think, nor does it mean you will always have some to be close to. I did learn to be very self-sufficient and take care of myself at an early age...also took care of two little sisters and was like a lil mommy to them. Mary

 

[love_casper]

i'm an only child, i entertain myself with my ponies. 'nuff said.

sooo...my grandma is pure German, the only girl of 6 kids. (5 boys, 1 girl) she was the youngest, i believe. she's 81, and still loves her only remaining brother to death! 5 were very close, one was a littlle more distant.

then she had....you guessed it: 5 boys and 1 girl. (strange, huh!) my daddy is the youngest of the 6. between all of them, there are: (none other than) 6 biological kids! oldest brother David was the last to be married (how ironic), but married a widow who had 3 kids. next was Danny who married a divorced woman with 2 kids of her own, then they had one together. Then Barbara had two boys. Denis married a woman who previously had one boy, then they had a boy and a girl together. Doug was married for a few months, and...ummm...he pushes carts at target...that's about it. The my daddy, Dana, had one and only meeeee!!

as for mom: i don't know much about the grandparents on that side, but mom's youth was interesting.

okay well first was Kay, then my mom 3 years later, then Judy 3 years after that, then Jan one year later. Kay is the sophisticated one, took pride in being an older sis. she had two boys with a great husband. very proper, goodie-goodie, fancy pants type. then there's mom. she is smart, and fun, and loves to laugh. she married dad when she was 35(ish) and had me, onlly me. so after mom, there was Judy. Judy is the creative one (costume designer now)....uhhhh....eloped with a hippie, had a kid at 17. what's more to say?? then, of course...hahahah..aunt Jan. the baby, the spoiled, the party animal. she was the center of attention, laugh out loud type. she's on her 5th husband, owns a boat lodge, retired in her fourties. mmmhhhhmmm.

mom sees Kay a few times a year, same with Jan, but we see Judy a few times a week. we live not to far from her. those two are the closest you could imagine, always swap clothes, still do each other's hair, etc. they are the only reason i ever wonder what life would be like with siblings.

well that's my family story. my "family" is in the barn...neighing for me to feed them right now. just the way i like it.

:

 

[Camelotcavs]

I am from a family of six, two brothers and three sisters.

In order of birth:

Ron (63), Diane (62), Joan (60), Jack (55), Cathy (44) and me (42).

My oldest brother and his children were lost in a plane crash in 1980.

My brother Jack, was hit and killed by a drunk driver when he was 5 years old. This was before I was born.

Because of the huge age differences, and me being the spoiled baby, I have always felt more comfortable with older people instead of my peers. Ron, Diane and Joan have been married for as long as I can remember (Diane got married the year I was born).

Dad has always owned a business or two - mainly gas stations and and recreational vehicle/mobile home sales. Here is a photo of Mom, Dad and the four older kids behind the gas station:

Diane, Ron, Dad, Joan, Jack and Mom

Owning businesses runs in the family:

Ron was an independent insurance agent.

Diane retired and sold her ice cream store.

Joan and Husband own a pc store.

Cathy took over the rv/parts business.

I have an apparel boutique.

Being born to older parents (they are now 83 and 84), Cathy and I were very privileged children. We were always vacationing somewhere wonderful. Flying here and there, eating out quite often, cruises etc.... oh to be a child again....

Thank you Mom & Dad for a fantastic childhood!!

 

[The Dynamic Duo]

Imagine 7 boys and only 1 mom!Thats not my family but a freinds.

 

[Beccy]

Mary Lou, please wish your mom a very Happy 80th Birthday from us

 

[stormo41]

I have 2 older brothers, but my mom had 7 siblings