Kids with younger siblings are like babysitters who work everyday but never get paid. Their younger sibling is part of their responsibility. Older siblings are like counselors. They give great advice and encouragement. However, they can also be like bullies. They tease you and embarrass you and bug you while refusing to leave you alone. When you go up to them and say hi to them in front of their friends, they either tell you to go away or pretend like they don’t even know you. You ask them why they ignore you in public but won’t leave you alone in private, and they just say it’s because you’re their younger sibling. It’s their job to act that way, and it’s your job to be a pest. Siblings don’t choose each other and can’t return or exchange each other for someone else’s siblings. Kids without siblings often misunderstand what it’s like to have a younger sibling. They think that a younger sibling is just a person who is younger than them who can keep them company when they’re lonely. This is far from the truth. Siblings do keep each other company, but they annoy each other more than anything. However, siblings do make for good friends when they’re isn’t a big age difference between them. Siblings who go to school together can watch after each other. They protect each other from bullies and stand up for each other. They can be each other’s chauffeur and help each other with school work. While many kids would trade their siblings without hesitation, some are just too close to us to give away. We eventually learn to love them and miss them when they are gone.

“Nenny is too young to be my friend. She’s just my sister and that was not my fault. You don’t pick your sisters, you just get them and sometimes they come like Nenny. She can’t play with those Vargas kids or she’ll turn out just like them. And since she comes right after me, she is my responsibility.” (Cisneros 8)