These things you can only do if you have a sister

With four sisters I have the luxury of being born with four best friends. Having brothers must be fun too, and it will have other advantages. But since I only have sisters, I can't judge that. What I do know for sure is that you can do things with sisters that you can't do with anyone else. It's a different kind of friendship. It's totally unconditional, no shame in your game, sometimes fighting and a second later acting like nothing happened (without ever saying sorry or talking things out). What is it that makes a sister bond so different? What are those things you can only do with a sister, and with no one else?

Somehow you don't have to explain anything to each other

Sisters just have to look at each other to understand what the other means. How you discovered on the Instagram of your ex's neighbor's ex that your new date is a really good friend of that girl you sat in class with in elementary school is also one of those things. No explanation needed. Gossiping about that one weird aunt can also just happen, without having to watch your words. Your sister probably loves gossiping just as much as you do and knows that weird aunt just as well as you do. Anyway, gossiping with your sister is sometimes just necessary. Especially because you know it's safe with each other, and sometimes irritations need to be expressed. That's why I call my sister when I'm mad at someone else, to explain to her what that person is doing wrong, she listens (or even better: thinks along about even more things that weren't okay about that person), and then I'm done with it. I do that less quickly with my friends; just angrily calling them, venting, and saying ‘thank you, bye’.

Your baby is my baby

I had never noticed it before, but when we were recently all together with the whole family, plus a number of friends (and that's quite a few people), it was a kind of circus full of children. Children of all different ages were running, shouting, and jumping around. Except for the babies, who are generally just lying peacefully in your arms. While one sister helps with the child of another sister, I have the baby of the helping sister almost asleep in my arms, and another sister warns my son that we are about to eat, and so it becomes a kind of roulette of children. For us, that's very normal: your baby is my baby. But a friend of my parents suddenly noticed it: ‘it's really something Italian, right? The baby is never on the mother's lap, but always with one of the aunts.’ Maybe it's Italian, maybe it's a general sister thing, but for us, it's very natural.

Fights are never resolved

Sometimes it's a bit of a civil war between sisters, especially if you live in the same house. The trick for outsiders: don't get involved. A sister fight is just as quickly over as it started. And then especially without talking it out with each other. Nothing gets resolved, everyone cools off for a bit, and then we go on as if nothing happened. Strange? Well, sisters don't know any better than this. Does it have to do with that understanding you have for each other without talking? Or is it just not worth discussing because it didn't mean anything, like basically all your fights? Not only in these kinds of things do sisters often resemble each other. If you also look a little alike, you'll recognize that you are often mistaken for each other. Both have long brown hair, a bit of the same way of speaking and demeanor? There's a good chance that your niece's father-in-law thinks he's talking to your sister when he's talking to you, and vice versa. Even if the wrong name is mentioned, questions are asked that clearly only apply to my sister, I keep pretending I didn't notice, and the same goes for my sisters. Just let it go, why embarrass someone when you can just pretend you're your sister for a moment? All in all, there are quite a few nice things you can only share and do with a sister, hopefully, the brothers don't feel left out!