I am the oldest of four, with three beautiful younger sisters beside me. With 17 years of experience being the oldest, I am pretty much an expert at all things responsibility, changing diapers, annoying the crap out of my sisters, and of course, being there for them. At times, being the oldest seems like the worst position in a family. You get the most responsibility, the strictest rules, and you are often the called upon live-in babysitter, but these struggles cannot compare to the rewards. After all, being in a big family means that you are never bored! As the oldest, I can easily say that it is hard, but the younger siblings have their struggles as well. On top of the problems, there is the fighting and yelling between siblings that seems to make life seem worse than it really is. This is hard on everyone, but this letter is not to tell you about the problems, it is to tell you how much you matter in the life of your older sister or brother. This is about you: All of the younger siblings of the world.

First of all, when we fight with you, do not take it too seriously. All brothers and sisters fight. It could be over anything from "borrowing" each other's clothes to giving rides to events to even boyfriends or girlfriends, but none of that really matters. Read that sentence again. Do any of those seem like worthwhile things to fight about in the long run? The answer is no. Most sibling fights are trivial and overall stupid. You will have to live with your siblings for the first part of your life, and they will always be related to you, it is not worth questioning the entire relationship over a stolen pair of jeans. We, as older siblings, will always listen to you and forgive you, so you have nothing to worry about.

Going off of our own fights, however, remember that it is only okay when we do it. Older siblings tease and fight and call you names, but if someone else does that to you, expect us to be angry. I never really knew how protective I was of my sisters until someone bullied them or hurt them, at which point I went into full anger mode. NO ONE will EVER lay a finger on you or cause you any form of pain without some form of punishment from us. It may be something small, like eternal ignoring, but depending on the severity, we very well could break some pinky fingers over and over again (nothing can be done about a broken pinky). You can always count on us to protect you, even when you may not want the protection.

We may be far away from you, but we are always going to be there for you, even if it is in spirit. Going off to college and being away from my sisters proved to be one of the hardest things I have had to do. The disconnect between our lives and yours can easily cause physical pain. We want to hear about your life! We want to give you advice and laugh with you over inside jokes and remember when we were little kids, but that is so difficult when we are not physically with you. Just know that you can always call us or text us. We want to be there for you, we just need you to let us.

Along with that, we want to be your friend! We may be a few years older and have different interests than you do, but we have grown up together and are related, so that means we have to have a few things in common! Having siblings is basically having built in, life long friendships. You may see us as annoying or silly, but we want you to like us as more than a sibling. We want you to like us as a friend.

Lastly, just know that we love you. We may call you cute or tease you for being little, but coming from us, that is a compliment. You have been a blessing to us since you were born. We fight, we cry, we say things we may regret, but we love you more than anyone. Sibling love is a strong force! Each and every fight will work itself out in one way or another if you let it. No matter what happens in our lives, we, as the older sibling population of the world, will always be here for you and love you, because you will always be our baby brothers and sisters.