Diary of a jealous little sister. (Sibling Rivalry!)

Member Name: moonbailey

Product:	Sibling Rivalry!
Date:	07/01/02 (169 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: pass

Disadvantages: pass

I'll warn you now, I've got a cold, so expect me to be snotty in every sense.

I've read on this topic from the parents point of view and the elder sister point of view, so here's my younger sister version. It may or may not help parents and other siblings, I'm not sure.

I am the younger sister of a brother two and a half years older. We are the ideal offspring of one boy and one girl, programmed to replace one of each parent on this planet. Sent to public school to get the best start in life and from a stable comfortable home life.

Sounds good, and it is. Only I have felt overshadowed for a very long time.

Firstly, my brother is the spitting image of Hugh Grant - only 10 years younger. Understandably, everywhere he goes he is complimented and admired (yes, he has the same accent too). People imagine they know him on meeting, because of his familiar and approachable look. and yes, he is a very charming boy, I'm the first to agree.

But one thing that really gets me is I have no name amongst people in my home town now, other than, "Alastair's sister". And people genuinely think I'm more than happy to be introduced as such!

Nope.

Sadly also, my brother has a great laugh but cannot for the life of him be funny. I (not now I know) can be very funny in public. We used to go out together. I'd say something witty and people would just look puzzled and return to their conversations. They didn't expect this little runt to have anything interesting to say, therefore decided to find it uninteresting. My dear brother would then repeat it word for word and they'd be howling in the aisles!


My other regret is that my parents always advised my brother of a career path that he might do well in, planning for the future, but when it came to me they were much more relaxed. Not only was I younger, but I was a girl, so the pressure was off. I could follow what
ever path I fell into and if all went to pot, I could always marry into wealth without any loss of face.

Naively, I relished this freedom and followed Art as my chosen field. At no point did anyone say to me "Are you mad? There's no money in it, you're kidding yourself!"

No, they said, "Oh darling that's wonderful. I'm sure you'll do very well!"

And so it came to be that after an Art course and degree in similar subject, I can get no more than a minimum wage shop job!

For several years I wanted to be (and still do) one of these people who buys old, run-down houses, does them up and sell them for a profit.

I found the perfect property in London, in an area due to become the next big thing. I told my parents and asked if they might see a way of helping me afford it - to be paid back once I had made my huge profit.

My Dad sighed in a loving way and said it was a little unrealistic and I shouldn't worry myself over such large projects. There wasn't money to burn in the family, sorry.

And so the idea was abandonned.

Five years on and the property in question is now for sale for £200,000 more than the market value at that time of first dreaming up the idea.

My brother on the other hand, played a trump card and asked for help in buying a property in the same town as my parents.

"What a splendid opportunity" they said and paid almost the full amount. He did the place up and made £150,000 profit. What a clever boy.

He married the perfect woman, an Australian, blonde, beautiful and witty. They had a perfect child, a gorgeous baby girl - and moved to Australia, with £150,000 in their pocket.

He is now trained in a job that can earn him a good wage in any country and is surrounded by antiques and rich living that he knows no other way but to own.

He has no understanding of me and his solution when asked
is " Seeing as you're unemployable, why don't you come and spend a few weeks in Australia to pass the time".

"but how do I get there?"

"Buy a ticket you nonse! and bring loads of spending money for travelling around when you get here..."

A lovely offer - if you have three grand to spare, but in my career, that would take a millenium to save.

He has lived a gifted life, always having people throwing offers at him and bending over backward to give him a hand, employment, dates etc - partly because of his looks and partly his beaming smile and cheeky nature!

So, what can I conclude from this?

I have been utterly loved by my parents but, ultimately treated differently.

I would hope and advise that new parents should always treat siblings equally regardless of gender. It is no longer realistic to imagine that a girl will always land on her feet through good marriage if not by career. My boyfriend has no more money than me - but is nonetheless brilliant and I wouln't have him any other way.

My parents see my only mistake was not to marry the rich guy I went out with a few years back, but never loved!

I find it quite disturbing that there can be such a huge diference in wealth within one family and I can't help feeling that it could have been avoided.

Nothing has ever been expected of me and unfortunately, nothing is exactly what I have produced.

Summary: