Today like many kids these days, I live with divorced parents; my mom remarried, and now I'm the oldest of two step siblings and my sister. 2008, I was in 6th grade, my mom worked two jobs, and my sister, Maddie and I fought on and off but we still loved each other. Today, my sister and I are the closest I am with anyone and barely fight, if ever. 2009, when my Mom introduced me to her new boyfriend, Will (Now known as Step Pappy) it was at his house: he was there with his two kids, Dylan and Sage. That year, I credit Dylan and Sage to why I'm a better brother, and maybe even a better person.

Like all siblings, we pick on one another, we know that its wrong but we also know its too fun not to stop. First you need to know: every time before then, Maddie would convince the friends or the cousins to mess with me, which, again, I acknowledge is what any civilized sibling would do at any time of their life. So naturally when she meets Dylan and Sage, Maddie convinces them to try the put the sleeping brother's hand in warm water trick.. it didn't work and I didn't find out until the next day. Things like this and the old "lets jump on the brother's bed, while he's sleeping, are things that may convince me to mess with my sister. I might be making dinner for my siblings like any friendly neighborhood brother would do, a bit of pepper, a bit of salt, some garlic, and a nice bowl of mac and cheese. Ok, they didn't like it, I get that, I just wasted mac and cheese; Maddie says it's gross, that she won't eat it. Sage then looks at the noodles, next at she and reiterates what Maddie said. Finally, Dylan takes a few bites and modestly declines the mac and cheese. Frustrated at the dislikes of my mac masterpiece i may or may not be annoyed at my sister for -ok maybe accidentally and unlikely- starting a chain reaction. I, on the other hand, may dabble in the hog the remote business, might kick or poke her too much etc. All in all, it's all seized for the moment somewhere around when Sage and Dylan came into my life.

Now I had three siblings to which I had to be a good role model. Since Dylan and Sage are also a "big brother, little sister" duo, I felt it was my job to make sure that they don't fight as much as I did with Maddie. I had to prove to Will that Maddie and I are civilized human mammals, that we are good examples for his kids. We had to prove to Will that he can tolerate and love us enough to not leave my Mom (which it must have worked since they married).

On the other end of the spectrum, I would usually go to my dad's place in the summers with Maddie. He grew up with three other siblings: my two aunts and my uncle. Legend states he fought with his siblings too. He would, so he says team up with his oldest-youngest sister and always argue with the younger two siblings. However, they made up and have got along for a long time now; they still have the expected arguments that anyone might have with each other but other than that all is good. Before Sage and Dylan arrived in my life, I knew my dad and his siblings got along, and I knew Maddie and I should- before we both are on opposite sides of the universe and never hear from each other; Maddie and I just wasn't able to stop mess with her until Will, Dylan, and Sage were there.

Sure I'm not the "alpha male" of the house anymore- it was just my dog Sammy any taking care of the family until then. Now I have a father figure and a brother to have a catch with, someone nearby to learn how to barbecue, and someone to ask my day to day questions.

Ever since Dylan and Sage came to my life, in the long run, I've become a better brother. I minimize the arguing over her stealing my stuff, I barely ever mess with her unless she messes with me and it's just for laughs, and I don't make garlic mac and cheese, unfortunately. I'm thankful that I can go to my sister for advice or input along with Mom and Will, and we actually verbalize when we miss each other when I come back from college.