Growing up with your siblings by your side can be fun, having to grow up with these people, having to share most of your “firsts” with them, sharing your secrets, and plotting various mischievous acts with them is always amazing.
These humans are the first set of people you are introduced to in life, they are people you see every single day of your life and as such you are forced to live with them for so many years
Just like everything in life has advantages and disadvantages so does having siblings too have advantages and disadvantages. Beyond the love and companionship comes its baggage.
The bad blood, the misunderstandings, the competitions, the differences in opinions, the fights, and many others are inevitable.
These set of humans are always in your space, invading your privacy and they drive you crazy almost every time, of course, there is bound to be sibling rivalry.
Sibling rivalry can be caused by the most minute thing. Sibling rivalry is not like the Russian and Ukrainian war or any other war where some major factors fueled the war, sibling rivalries are caused by the least unexpected things and it can be surprising the length sibling rivalries can go and the damages they can cause.
It’s funny how something so little can make two people who are related by blood hate each other.
Sibling rivalry if not properly managed or handled can result in siblings becoming permanent enemies thereby causing family discord, you can’t help but wonder how it all got to that level, and when traced you’d be surprised to discover that the root of the rift was little and very insignificant.
Growing up I had witnessed a sibling rivalry between my Aunt’s husband and his brother, mind you at that time I didn’t know there was a name for it but I knew they didn’t like each other, I knew there was something going on between them but little me paid no attention to what was happening.
These two men built their houses in the same compound as the land was a gift from their mother.
I watched these men act like strangers and speak to each other only when necessary. Imagine you live in the same compound as your brother and you both act like strangers. In no time the rift between them extended to their wives and kids and you know what happens when women are dragged into a situation like that, the equation changes drastically.
So whenever I go to spend holiday in my Aunt’s house I could see the silent competition between both families. Each family wanted to go the extra mile so they could boast behind closed doors😂😂
It wasn’t just a competition between the parents of the two families it was also a competition between the children of both families. It didn’t stop there as it progressed to “my mummy said I shouldn’t eat in your house” and that’s when their mother knew it was getting too much.
It was okay to compete with your wealth but pitching little children against each other and insinuating that you can be poisoned in your cousin’s or brother’s house was below the belt.
The rivalry between these two brothers was so bad that no family meeting ended the same.
The rift between these two people continued with nobody being able to mend their relationship until one of them had a near-death experience and everything changed. They both got to understand the fickleness of life and turned a new leaf.
Till today my siblings annoy me, they drive me crazy and sometimes we have serious issues but never in my wildest dream would I fight with them to the point we become enemies. I love them so much, we are like a computer system removing one from the equation would make the computer not perform properly.
This is my entry to the #mayinleo monthly prompt, to find more details about it you can check it in this post.
All images are mine except otherwise stated.
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XOXO