The Mycenaean

Your sibling can either be your best friend, or your worst enemy, and throughout your life your relationship can change. But ,you know you always love them.

There is a very stereotypical dynamic between siblings: the youngest is the crazy baby, and gets away with everything. The middle is forgotten about. And the oldest is the mature, down to earth one, who is almost the third parent, this dynamic is called birth order. 

Me and my older sister are definitely the opposite of the normal birth order stereotypes. She has a happy, loud, puppy dog personality. I have a more calm, down to earth, cat personality.

I was curious if birth order actually has an effect on your personality, so I asked the siblings of Leesville what they thought. 

Landon Ange, freshman, said birth order definitely applies to his family. Landon is the youngest and has an older sister: our very own, junior staff writer, Bennett.

When asked what birth order is, and asked if it applies to his family, Ange said, “One hundred percent,” without hesitation.

Abby Coughlin, junior, and an older sister, believes birth order applies to her family. 

“I’m very bossy, and higher maintenance, and I’m more mature than my little brother,” said Coughlin.

Avery Alfer, freshman, also believes birth order applies to her family.

Tyler Cook, sophomore, is a middle child and a twin  was already skeptical about birth order when I interviewed him. He thought that it was just a false theory, and there were articles to prove it. 

“I feel like there’s so many articles about [birth order], that it’s not actually true,” said Cook.

Not only does he not believe in it, Cook said that birth order did not apply to his family.

Cook said, “I think the youngest is definitely the baby, my [older] sister is not the most mature. By far.” 

Cook said that his siblings don’t pick up after themselves, which leaves him to do all of the cleaning. This demonstrates the older child mindset, even though he is a middle child.

A big part of dealing with siblings is dealing with their annoying behavior. Sometimes we forget that there is probably a reason for them doing something, even if it annoys you.

Alfer finds it annoying when her sister borrows her clothes that she doesn’t want borrowed. 

I asked her why she thinks her sister does it, and she said, “I don’t know, [we sometimes borrow each other’s clothes] so she does that, but I don’t actually want her to.”

Ange thinks it’s annoying when his sister is ignoring him, but he thinks she has a valid reason. 

“She sometimes ignores me for no reason,” said Ange.

But when asked why he thinks she does that, Ange said, “probably because I’m being annoying, if I’m being honest.”

Coughlin doesn’t think there’s a reason for what her little brother does. She said that he’s really mean, and will start hitting her for no reason.

I asked why she thinks he does that, and Couglin said, “Probably because he’s stupid.”

Sibling rivalry at its finest. 

Parents have a hand in sibling dynamics based on who they side with in a fight. 

Coughlin said her parents don’t really choose sides, they just want her and her brother to be quiet and stop fighting. 

Coughlin still knows deep down in her heart that she is always right. Classic older sibling behavior.

Ange said that his parents usually choose his sister’s side, but that’s only because she’s right. 

Ange said, “[They normally agree with] Bennet. We’re usually arguing about something stupid, but most of the time she’s right.”

I’m sure Bennett would love to hear him say that. 

Alfer’s parents usually agree with her sister. She doesn’t think it’s because she’s wrong, but she thinks it’s because her sister and parents have similar views on things.

Alfer said, “I think they often have the same opinions.“

Cook also believes that he is right most of the time, so his parents agree with him.

Some siblings are a little different, for they are born much further apart.

Tyler McInnis, sophomore, has a 4 year old brother. A 12 year age gap is a lot, so their relationship isn’t traditional. 

McInnis definitely portrays the older, responsible, sister in this relationship, but she can’t do stuff a normal 16 year old would at home.

When most of us lay down on the couch and scroll for hours, McInnis has to watch how much she is on her phone. She doesn’t want to teach her brother any bad habits. 

“I have to act differently around my 4 year old brother, because I don’t want to teach him any bad habits, like being on my phone too much,” said McInnis.

All siblings are special whether you have a twin, or a sibling that came into your life a little bit later.