Why I'm Glad I Grew Up With Two Older Brothers

I am the baby girl with two brothers, five and nine years older than me.  BABY girl.  We grew up in the country.  My whole childhood was spent running around our property trying to keep up with the boys. Anything I could do to not be left out, I did it.  That included not learning how to ride a bike until a really late age, because it was faster for me to run along beside them.  (I wish I could still run like that!)

It included hobbies of farming our carpeting with miniature machinery, working on bikes in the back yard, and playing army with our tree house and wooden guns made from 2x4's.  I was also consistently disappointed when my attempts to pee like a boy never worked out (my poor mother).

I was a tomboy for a long time and always tried to be like my brothers.  I stole their CD's, their clothes, asked for presents so I would fit in better with them.  I played drums because they played drums.  I also tagged along with them as much as I could.  I took their pictures at prom, got dragged along to movies, and even celebrated New Year's Eve with my brother while he was in high school.

Along the way, I got to spend a lot of time with their friends.  Which brings me to the point of my post::

WHY I'M GLAD I GREW UP WITH TWO BROTHERS - ROLE MODELS.

You're thinking, "Oh, she learned so much from her big brothers!"  Which, yes, I did.  But here I'm specifically talking about what I learned from the women in their lives.  My brothers and I have always been long term relationship people.  Meaning I had many years to learn from the women they dated while I was younger.  Since then, these women have gone to college, gotten married, had children, fulfilled dreams, and inspired me along the way.

Nowadays, we are blessed with the wonderful Facebook, which allows me to keep in touch with these fantastic women.  Not only do I love seeing them succeed with families and jobs, but they still continually encourage and uplift me.

One of them may not know that she had a huge part in the direction of my life.  I followed her to college, joined the sorority she was an alumna of, and followed her advice about a guy (at 10 pm at her office), which led me to a new relationship with my amazing husband.  Several others inspire me daily with their confidence as working mothers with beautiful children.  I cannot wait to follow in their footsteps some day.

Growing up with two big brothers was hard at times.  I definitely got left behind a lot, and never really fit in.  I couldn't pee standing up, what did you expect?!  But thanks to their amazing female friends, I gained several role models over the years that genuinely make me feel loved.

Thank you to those women who have been a positive influence in my life for the last twenty years!  And thank you to my brothers for having fantastic friends over the years.  

PS:  Do You Think Any of Us Look Alike?