Twisted Sisters? (Sibling Rivalry!)

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Product:	Sibling Rivalry!
Date:	17/08/01 (6 review reads)
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Disadvantages: Lots

My sister is eight years younger than me, she is seventeen, so that makes me twenty five.

I was so happy when she was born because I had always disliked being an only child , but I couldn't help wishing we had a smaller age gap.

Anyhow, how can I put this? I can see all the good things that my sister tries to hide. She has always had to be the streetwise 'hard' chick. But whenever I think about her I still see her as a kid and that drives her mad.

The main problems I have had with my sister have in a lot of respects been due to my parents. That seems a very broad statement to make but let me explain.

Those of you who have read my previous op's will know that I have cerebral palsy, so my parents have always emphasised my mind. I have always been seen as the clever one, I am fairly intelligent, but I would say that I am average, but as none of my family had ever gone to university, it was always regarded as my job to be the first.

When my sister started school she always had my parents comparing her reports to mine, and even members of staff would comment on the difference in attitude between us.

My sister has since took it upon herself to basically be everything I wasn't. She smoked and had several body piercings before the age of sixteen.

When I was a teenager, my parents were fairly cool, but my Dad had like funny little rules, like no boys in the house, no makeup, no swearing (in fact I recall getting sent to bed once for calling my Mum a stupid cow.)

My sister regularly had boys over, drank cider and told my Mum to F off on a regular basis and not a word was said.

Now I understand that parents can chill out between children, but instead of being mature about the whole thing , the situation just really hurt and my sister and I would bicker over the smallest of things.

I can't remember when it was decided or how it happened, but there is this unspoken u
nderstanding in our family that I am my Mum's favourite and my sister is my Dad's.

This really didn't bother us that much until my parents split up last year... I have never had a great relationship with my Dad, but it's now so bad that it is like my sister and I are in separate corners.

It came to a head at Christmas, when we actually had a physical confrontation and I am not proud to say that I gave her a split lip and a black eye.

I know that parents must expect things of their children , but I have always felt that if my parents hadn't have put us in categories so early on that we would have a very different relationship.

My sister has all the good qualities I have and a hell of a lot more besides, but no matter how much I tell her, I am always the clever, pretty, doogooder in her eyes.

I have rebelled and done things I am too ashamed to admit, just like my sister, but she doesn't see that side of me because she has never been shown it.

The thing is that we obviously admire eachother so much , but can't help but feel a rivalry. I only wish I'd have had half the coolness of my sister, half her laidbackness and charm.

She is currently unemployed with no plans to further her education in any manner. She sits around the house and doesn't look for a job. I guess it's because I am seen as the one who will do something with her life, my Dad always said my sister would work in a factory.

There is nothing wrong with working in a factory but there is ultimately something wrong with placing such expectations upon your children.

My sister is just as bright as I am, but she can't see past the verbatium laid down while she was still in the womb.

If you are a parent reading this, all I can say is cherish the differences in your children, yeah that may sound a little Oprah Winfrey, but it is so, so true.

I love my sister dearly and I wi
sh we never became rivals in the first place.

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