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Earlier this week, I was reminded by Facebook that it was National Sibling Day, a day I usually celebrate with an old photo and/or a phone call to my two siblings - Gina and Jake. I am the oldest of the three of us, with Gina only a little over a year younger and Jake a few years younger.
In honor of Sibling Day, I thought I'd share a few interesting facts about siblings.
Siblings spend more time together than with any other person - including friends, their parents and teachers. They even spend more time with each other than they do alone.
One statistic I found stated that by the age of 11, siblings are spending 33% of their free time with each other. Numbers reach even higher if you are from a big family, and can even increase as you get older and life gets busier and busier.
This was certainly true of us three, as we grew up running through the backyards of our neighbors and friends on W. Chapel Street. When we started to get older (tail end of middle school into high school), Gina and I had a lot of the same friends, and we ourselves were really good friends.
Siblings tend to resemble each other in looks and intelligence but are quite different in personality. This is also true of the three of us, with me landing in the newspaper business with a knack for writing; Gina finding her place working with patients at a hospital and Jake just finishing up his Masters in Accounting. But although we all ended up in different directions, according to our interests, likes and personalities, if you look at a photograph of the three of us, we do, indeed, all look alike!
A study by the University of Ohio found that kids with more siblings have stronger marriages. And although only one of us three is married (Gina), both Jake and I have strong relationships that will likely result in marriage (we can only hope!). We certainly have good role models in our parents too.
It's true that siblings don't always get along - in fact, when siblings are younger, they fight more often than you'd think! Studies have shown that siblings between the ages of two and four clash 6.3 times per hour! When siblings age (between three and seven years old), it drops to 3.5 times an hour. And even now that we're in our mid and late 20s, we do fight on occasion, especially if Mom brings out one of our favorite board games.
A study by Brigham Young University found that having a loving sibling promotes charitable attitudes and good deeds. And this, too, is evident, as I tend to have a soft spot for many in my community, Gina cares for patients who are mentally ill and Jake has a tendency to adopt any stray dog he sees.
Siblings make us better people; they influence who we are and who we become.
Love you guys so much!