When you grow up with siblings, these are a few of the things you learn.

1. You argue over who gets the front seat.

This is an ever-present argument in my family. My younger sister and brother and I always argue who is going to get the front seat (even though I think it should be me, since I am 19 after all), because let’s face it, no one likes sitting in the back. It isn’t the punishment of sitting in the back so much as it is the satisfaction of being able to look at them and say “I got the front” while they’re sitting in the back plotting their revenge.

2. You debate who is your parent's favorite.

We debate this constantly. I’d like to think I’m everyone’s favorite since I’m the good child in the family.

I’m kidding. Sort of. The other two aren’t that bad. But these arguments get really intense really fast and before you know it we’re pointing out all of the reasons why we’re their favorite and my brother (who is the youngest at age 9) always ends his argument off with, “Well last is best!”

3. They're always there . . . to bring you toilet paper.

This is where they come in clutch. It’s happened to all of us: we’ve been in such a hurry to use the bathroom that we don’t think to check if there is any TP before we go. When you look down and see that there is no toilet paper, that’s when the panic sets in. And that’s what siblings are for. And a perk of today’s technological society, if I scream for them and they don’t hear me, I can always text them because they always have their phone on them.

4. Privacy doesn't exist.

Sometimes I want to sit on the porch and read or do my homework. I bet I get ten minutes of silence before my brother or sister come bouncing outside asking for one thing or another. Either my sister has left something and needs me to go pick it up, or my brother wants me to watch him play his video games. It’s not an inconvenience, really, but thirty minutes a day to read would be kind of nice.

5. They always want to run errands with you.

My sister is in my car as much as I am. It seems like everywhere I go she’s right there with me demanding the auxiliary cord or my phone charger. It doesn’t matter if I’m running to my grandma’s house, to the drugstore to pick up medicine, or to Bi-Lo to pick up drinks, she’s always right there with me.

6. They ask you to make them food.

This is usually my brother. My sister is 15 and can make food herself. But when it’s just us three at home, my brother always wants me to cook him food. More often than not it’s Roman noodles, because I make those the best and no one can argue with me about that. Maybe it’s a hotdog or pizza rolls with ketchup (yes, that’s a thing he does), but he always asks me to make him food and he’s always right there in the kitchen right under my feet.

7. No one can agree on what to watch on t.v.

None of us can ever agree on something to watch on t.v. My brother wants to watch Disney Channel or Nickelodeon, but I prefer ESPN or HGTV (or, at this date, Hallmark for their Christmas movies). Sure, we all have t.v.’s in our room, but we’d all much rather sit in the living room and debate what to watch until our parents take the remote and choose for us.

8. Sometimes you feel like an extra parent, but you wouldn't have it any other way.

I take my sister to school every day, I occasionally pick her up, sometimes I take her to softball and her tournaments, and that’s all okay with me. I want to be a teacher when I graduate college, and I think spending so much time working with them, whether it be homework or projects or whatever, will help me tremendously when I get into my own classroom. Sure, I don’t do all the things parents do, but I take them on “dates” and all around do a good bit for them. I think that comes with the territory when you’re an older sibling – it’s something you just do because you love them. And even though they’re a pain in the tail sometimes, I wouldn’t stop doing these things for the world. They’re brats, but they’re my brats.