Fairy Princess Lou Who with Broface, circa 1989
"Siblings are the people we practice on, the people who teach us about fairness and cooperation and kindness and caring, quite often the hard way." - Pamela Dugdale
24 years ago, when mum told me I was going to be a big sister, my three year old self decided that a brother would be the only acceptable addition to our family.
Perhaps as a child I thought that as the only girl, I'd be daddy's only princess and mummy's only barbie doll and I would be singularly spoilt and adored forever and ever.
More importantly though, I must have had a grand toddler epiphany that having a brother would be better than getting my very superhero because one day, years from then, no one would ever be able to f**k with me or break my heart without experience his wrath (albeit quite passively...trust me...it's still scary).
Our dad used to tell me when I would tease him incessantly as a child, that my seemingly eternal "baby" brother would one day be bigger than me and he'd be able to fight back and I should remember that.
"Please, dad. He's younger than me. I'll always be HIS big sister," said all knowing five year old Little Miss Lou Who.
However, much to my shock horror, as the years went on so did his growth spurts and by the time he was 13, I was the Little Big sister.
Having your very own sibling superhero definitely has more perks than downfalls, but there have been many instances when I have wanted to ring his neck for being TOO protective and for being the kind of person who might not always be right, but who is never wrong (trust me, arguing with this kid is a fruitless endeavour...you will lose every single time).
Personality wise, you couldn't get more opposite. Day and night; chalk and cheese.
I'm impulsive, brash, carefree and a fan of the spotlight where is he is very measured, grounded, rational and generally has to be bribed to have his photo taken; cue heated arguments and fights stemming from the frustrations of not understanding each other's choices and actions at times.
Despite this, there is absolutely positively 100% nothing I would change about our sibling dynamic.
They say that there is no stronger bond than that between siblings and even to this day; whoever "they" are couldn't have been more spot on.
Broface and I have taunted, tortured and terrorised each other at times but honestly I know that there is no one else I would take a bullet for without a second thought about the consequences.
He has stuck by me at the worst of times and supported me at the best of times.
Knowing him as well as I do, he is probably going to be mortified by this post but I don't care because...
I'm his BIG sister, he's my BABY brother and that means I'm still the boss of him.
Our dad used to tell me when I would tease him incessantly as a child, that my seemingly eternal "baby" brother would one day be bigger than me and he'd be able to fight back and I should remember that.
"Please, dad. He's younger than me. I'll always be HIS big sister," said all knowing five year old Little Miss Lou Who.
However, much to my shock horror, as the years went on so did his growth spurts and by the time he was 13, I was the Little Big sister.
During our younger years, he was my sole friend every time my parents would move us from country to country or state to state.
He was also the person who had to pick my sobbing ass up off the floor when my parents moved to China without us.
Having your very own sibling superhero definitely has more perks than downfalls, but there have been many instances when I have wanted to ring his neck for being TOO protective and for being the kind of person who might not always be right, but who is never wrong (trust me, arguing with this kid is a fruitless endeavour...you will lose every single time).
Personality wise, you couldn't get more opposite. Day and night; chalk and cheese.
I'm impulsive, brash, carefree and a fan of the spotlight where is he is very measured, grounded, rational and generally has to be bribed to have his photo taken; cue heated arguments and fights stemming from the frustrations of not understanding each other's choices and actions at times.
Despite this, there is absolutely positively 100% nothing I would change about our sibling dynamic.
They say that there is no stronger bond than that between siblings and even to this day; whoever "they" are couldn't have been more spot on.
Broface and I have taunted, tortured and terrorised each other at times but honestly I know that there is no one else I would take a bullet for without a second thought about the consequences.
He has stuck by me at the worst of times and supported me at the best of times.
Knowing him as well as I do, he is probably going to be mortified by this post but I don't care because...
I'm his BIG sister, he's my BABY brother and that means I'm still the boss of him.
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