BIG families

Yelling, the sounds of pots and pans banging together as my mom cooks, and the television blaring. Yes, this is the daily afternoon for me. I'm part of a pretty large family and let me tell you it gets loud. I do know other people with families of up to 10 kids and I'm amazed at how they deal with each other. With 5 other brothers and sisters, keeping my sanity is near to impossible. The things I've learned growing up in a clan of 6, is that it's always the youngest fault, you'll never get new clothes if you're not the oldest, and seniority rules. In ugly situations, I used to be the first one to point the finger at my little sister. I may have been the mastermind behind a couple of these events, but if I wasn't the one doing it, it wasn't my fault. The youngest- being my little sister Michaela- are always the easiest to trick. As we get older, I've noticed that the trickery has failed and I guess I'm not as scary as I used to be. Clothes on the other hand; they never get too old according to my mom. I think I wore the same shorts for about 4 years because they were still in good shape. My older sister Lauren was the lucky one. Being the oldest girl, she got the new clothes, then when she got too big they went to Katie, and being the lucky third child, I got them when she no longer needed them. Some of the clothes I have been handed down have been absolutely horrendous. My cousin gives me some clothes that look like they were worn in the 80's. In middle school, it was hard seeing all the other girls with brand name clothing, like Hollister, and I was still in the "GAP" stage. My mom didn't want to spoil us, so if we wanted new clothes we had to buy them ourselves. Let me see some company hire a 13 year old girl to their store so she could make money to buy clothes that would be out of style in less than a year. Well that didn't happen, so earning money included vacuuming, doing the dishes, cleaning the garage, and cleaning the bathrooms. With 7 other people in my house, let’s just say that the house wasn't always the cleanest. It was a good day if I found matching socks in the laundry. Due to my big family, I have learned to become a bargain shopper as I get older. Brand names don't mean anything if you still have good fashion taste. Old Navy is just as nice as Abercrombie and it costs a third of the price. I saw a 100$ winter jacket at Hollister once and I thought, "You wear this 1/4 of the year, what's the point of wasting that much money?" If I was part of a smaller family and had my mom pay for everything, I would be a spoiled brat. With big families come big rivalries. The oldest- who is my brother Jay-, thinks they have the power over all the rest of the kids. This was always a problem for me because I didn't, and still don't like to be bossed around. Whenever one of my siblings would tell me to do something, I really didn't have a choice. They were bigger and stronger than me, and if I wanted to live in peace, I did what they said. Maybe this is why I was such a grumpy kid. I hate to be told what to do, and my older siblings used that to their advantage. Despite my negativity, big families also results in a lot of trust. I know that any one of my siblings has my back at any point in my day. Whether I need a ride, or I need to borrow 5 bucks, they are always there for me. I know I can lean on anyone and being so close in age with my siblings, also means they know what I'm going through because they themselves are going through it or they have been through it. Older siblings also give examples as to what's right and wrong. Having a big family means there has been a lot of mistakes. I have watched my siblings do something wrong, involving school or something with my parents, and I have learned what I should do in situations. I love my big family, even if we are dysfunctional the majority of the times.