Big Brother
No, this is not a blog entry regarding a big brother as in George Orwell 1984 style. This is something completely different. What interested me here is the relationship with a big brother. I have the fortune - or misfortune - whichever way you look at it - of being a 'sandwich child'. This of course relates to being a middle child and has nothing to do with food. I have an older brother and a younger brother and each one has produced a totally different relationship.
A big brother is often considered someone to look up to. This brother has usually paved the way for siblings to follow and is usually to be admired. This is true in my case. I suppose he was the guinea pig as far as my parents were concerned. This is not meant in a cruel sense but just relates to the fact that as he was the first child, certain things were tried out on him. Here, I am referring to methods of bringing up a child, matters of discipline, etc. So, by the time they got to me ? it was no longer a case of trial and error. Perhaps I feel that for that reason, I should be eternally grateful to my big brother and our relationship is based on that foundation. As children, we got on quite well compared to other families where the children would fight often. However, once we became older and each went our own separate ways with our own families, the relationship unfortunately became less close.
