Handling younger siblings
Most times, siblings are bound to fight. That has been my experience with my younger sister. Usually, I don’t fight but I argue with her all the time.
My interactions with my fellow teens have shown that we are smarter these days and we can be very rude. For example, we know the kind of response to give when we are exchanging words with anyone.
My younger sister is not exempted. Don’t get me wrong, she is loving, caring, understanding but I still think she is smarter for her age. She doesn’t take nonsense. Whenever I engage her in any argument, I do it to the end, especially for the fact that she is the last born.
If I’m talking to her and she starts being rude, I will just tell her: “shut up your mouth”. She can just say: “You too shut up your mouth, God gave me mouth to talk, is it not just three years difference in age between us?”
I would tell her: “Can you buy 365 days?”
One thing about her, I’ll put it this way, she is a very good actress. If I just tap her a bit, ‘Feyikemi what is wrong with you?”
If she sights my mum or dad, she’ll quickly fall on the floor and start wailing and crying. She will say: ‘’Yaa, daddy, Ikepo has killed me, she wants to beat me to death.”
My dad or mum not knowing would start to reprimand me at that don’t I know I’m the eldest. I should learn how to accommodate her. She will then start laughing.
Most times though, younger siblings tend to be spoilt brat, my sister does practically nothing in the house, when she wakes up , she just tunes the t.v to Disney and when I tell her ‘Feyi you won’t do anything’, she ‘I’ll just say ‘do I look like the housemaid to you’.
When I was talking to my friends one day, she said I should count myself lucky that my sister still manages to wash her plate. According to her, for her younger brother to take the shoes into the room is a big deal. He will never do it. He considers him a snob.
However, regardless of how we the older ones perceive their attitude; our younger siblings need our help. I no longer shout or argue with my sister. All we need to do is to find out their weak point and hook them like. Like my own sister, she is not the kind that loves to keep malice. I give her ‘SILENT TREATMENT’ and behave as if she doesn’t exist. As a way of punishment, I don’t help her with her school assignment or I will secretly do it and put it in the middle of her note. I feel that is more matured than fighting and arguing.
Ikeolwapo Olubanjo