Anyone else have siblings and recognize the love/hate you have towards them? I have 3 sisters and 1 brother. We’re a blended family which means 1 of those siblings is older and shares the same mom and dad as me; 3 of those siblings happened after my dad and mom divorced and my dad had more kids. I had a bit of a different experience because I grew up with this older sister for 14 years and lived my life as the youngest sibling. I then moved—at 15—with my dad and became the oldest child in the house and a middle child. To say I struggled is to say the least.

I love my siblings and most folks know this. These are the folks who I’ve grown up with, who know just about all of me, and who also know how to anger/annoy me like no other. I texted my mom and sister in a group text this week; something about my sister just texting me back made me mad. She didn’t do anything but I was like, “why is she texting? I’m annoyed.” It may have been some residual stuff from childhood because we all know my sister used to pick on me as a kid. I love her; I do.

As we’ve grown older our relationships have changed as siblings as we’ve moved out of our parent’s homes and started to build our own lives and families. I think the most recent change has been my brother and I’s relationship. I’ve called a few more during the past year because I miss home and being around to see him grow into the man he’s meant to be; fact: I taught him how to tie his shoe when he was 3 or 4 and still cry about the story.

Jarvis and I talked a few weeks back. Somehow we got on the topic of dating, jobs, figuring out things, and how I plan on taking him out to Savannah in a few months to get shit-faced because he’s finally 21. The kid I knew to cry every two seconds is now a man. I try to give advice to him, laugh, make a few memories with him and I’m always telling him to use a condom. My favorite phrase to say, “I don’t take care of any babies but my own. You know what that means? I buy gifts for Christmas and birthdays, I pop up sometimes, but don’t bring them to me until they can use the bathroom by themselves and talk.”

I texted him a couple of days ago to check on him. In that brief text exchange I joked that our dad didn’t say anything about getting us money this year for Christmas and usually by early December our dad would have. This little brother of mine then talked to my Dad and said, “Shad said you ain’t asked us about Christmas money.” I know my brother said this because I called my dad a day after this and Jarvis, Sr. told me what the little junior boy said as he yelled I’m sending you money to your CashApp account right now. I also know my brother. He did that because he wanted some money and the fucker threw me into the conversation because of it.

I guess I write all this to say love on your siblings. These bitches really do get on my nerves most days and I usually want to curse out one of mine once a week or so but they’re mine. We share a bond and I know one thing, I can curse them out all day every day but no one else can because I ride for mine. Love on yours if you have any.

Feel free to share your favorite, funniest sibling stories in the comments or text to me; I always love them. I’ll tell you one of my favorite memories is watching my sister get drunk off of one wine cooler. Rookie.