Growing up, I had the same perception of step-siblings that I assume most people do. I mean, who doesn’t immediately think about Cinderella after they hear those words? If not the original Cinderella, at least the Hilary Duff classic, A Cinderella Story. Media and society have taught us to see step siblings or parents as these evil entities who come into your lives and try to control your every move.
I’m not here to tell you that all people have an amazing or wonderful experience after trying to blend two families together. However, I am here to say that some people, myself included, actually enjoy having stepsiblings.
Growing up with only one sister was great because we got to be best friends and enemies and every level in between with one another. After everything, we still know it’s the two of us against the world. I don’t recall ever wishing for more siblings or more people to play with as a child. We were perfectly content.
Then when I was 17 I gained two new sisters. At first, I think we were all kind of unsure how to handle the situation, how can you not be? Over time, we have grown to become friends. At holidays we have more people to hang out with. We now have enough people to play games and drink with. If something new and exciting happens to one of us, there are more people to share our experiences with. If you’re looking for advice, there are now more people to ask and talk to.
Overall, gaining two new sisters did nothing but make my world bigger and more interesting. They didn’t come into my space and invade it, instead, we all gained a new space together. I know the concept of blending two families seems difficult and weird if it hasn’t happened to you. However, in today’s world, it’s becoming an increasingly common concept and it’s time we started looking at it differently.
People fall in and out of love all the time. They grow apart and eventually maybe they fall in love with someone new. You can’t blame people for following their hearts; after all, we only live once. When kids are involved though, this complicates the entire situation. No one wants to grow up in a split household or away from one of their parents. The reality is though, so many of us have experienced this.
What’s the saying, “when life gives you lemons… make lemonade?” This applies perfectly to this situation. Having a split family isn’t easy, but if it is your reality, then it is much easier to move forward with a positive attitude. Gaining step-siblings does not have to be a bad thing! It can be fun and entertaining. It can bring new opinions and voices into a family that maybe just needs to learn to laugh and enjoy themselves again. It can mean new sisters to help you through tough situations or simply give you opinions on what to wear. It can bring joy into your parent’s lives and we all know our parents deserve that.
Gaining two sisters didn’t turn me into a forgotten, tormented maid like Cinderella; it brought more love and joy into my life. Next time you look at me or someone else in the same situation as me with pity or sadness, don’t because I don’t require it. My world changed but it in no way got worse. The more the merrier definitely applies in our household!
Featured image via Sharon McCutcheon on Unsplash
I never thought that I would have step siblings, especially growing up being the only girl with two brothers on my moms side. I absolutely hated the fact that my dad got married to another women right after being divorced. Because I had already had 3 other siblings on my dads side ( a brother and 2 sisters), and have one wayyy smaller then me blew my mind. I didnt want to attend weddings, birthday parties, and other celebration with a family I didn’t know. And still to this day I don’t accept her as my sister but as a STEP-SISTER and she still doesn’t get it.
You seems to extremely cruel