There isn’t an Irish mam or dad who won’t recognise this in their kids.
You can’t choose your family, but you can choose how you behave around them and, for some reason, siblings bring out the juvenile side of each other.
We’ve decided to list 15 of the most petty things we’ve argued about with our brothers and sisters; see if you recognise any.
1. “Move your leg”
Your sibling’s leg is either too close to you or else it’s blocking the television.
You ask them to move it, they say “no,” and all hell breaks loose.
2. Borrowing clothes without permission
One sibling has cool clothes, the other doesn’t, but believes the old saying, “what’s yours is mine.”
You’ll be in the pub that night and spot them wearing your shirt, jumper or jacket. Bad move.
3. Sitting in the middle of the backseat of the car
The seat that nobody wants. That lump in the middle means you’ll be asked to “move your head” by the driver for the entire journey.
The race to avoid getting stuck in the middle looks something like this.
4. Doing the washing up
You’ve just polished off a mammoth Irish mammy dinner and then the dreaded “who’s washing up?” is uttered by your parents.
Whoever is slowest to say “not me” ends up doing it. The smug look that appears on the faces of the other siblings is infuriating.
5. Sharing food
We all know that sharing food is a dangerous game, but it’s even more so with family members because they don’t care if they offend you.
Pizza is a particularly treacherous food because you’ve counted the slices, they’ve counted the slices, there’s one slice left, it’s yours, but this happens.
6. Closing a door
There’s a draft coming into the room because the door isn’t closed properly. You’re all less than ten feet away from the door, but nobody will get up and close it.
A long drawn out debate about “who’s closest?” will take place, and the door will remain ever so slightly open.
7. Who talks to the old, distant relative
Family gatherings, such as weddings, are great, but it means you’re forced to chat to that old aunt who is half-deaf and talks a lot.
Tough negotiations between the siblings take place and the youngest is usually forced, against their will, to go over and sit down beside Auntie Margaret.
8. Video games
The competitive nature of siblings is never more apparent than when they play PlayStation or Xbox.
Knocking the controller out of hands, quitting before the final whistle, or turning off the console are all classic moves pulled when things go wrong.
9. The bathroom
A person’s patience is shortened by 500% when it’s a sibling they’re dealing with, and you can drive that up to 1000% if they need to use the bathroom.
A comment like “calm down, don’t rush me” is like fuel to an open flame. Cue a lot of door banging.
10. “Where’s my change?”
Your sibling is going to the shop and you ask them to get you a bottle of Lucozade, you hand them a €20 note because it’s the smallest you have on you.
They come back with the drink and a ball of change, but following a quick count you realise you’re short a fiver. They’ve since fled to Colombia.
11. Hanging out with other sibling’s friends
Sibling A invites friends over to the house, Sibling B sees that as the perfect opportunity to annoying Sibling A by hanging out in the same room as the guests.
Dirty glances, a head nodding in the direction of the door, and mouthing “get out” are all tried until Sibling A eventually blows and yells “get the f**k out.”
12. The TV remote
Why is it that siblings can rarely agree on something they can all watch? Flicking through channels and messing with volume boils a lot of blood.
The big argument-starter is when the person takes the remote with them when they leave the room. So annoying.
13. Who made who laugh at mass?
The giddiness levels of siblings goes through the roof when they’re all in a church together and muffled laughter usually erupts at some point.
A scolding comes from your parents on the way home and then the blame game starts. It always escalates into a verbal war and feelings get hurt.
14. Ignoring a “shotgun” call for the front seat of the car
As we said earlier, nobody wants to sit in the middle of the backseat, but everyone wants to sit in the front seat.
Calling “shotgun” when you see the car is the fairest way to decide who gets the passenger seat, that’s the universal system.
However, some siblings don’t play by the rules, ignore the call and claim they said it first. Expect a few digs from the back seat on the journey.
15. Making an annoying noise
You know the sibling who sits there staring into space making weird humming noises for no reason. Yeah, that’s so annoying, and they bloody know it.
“Mmmmmm,” “Bzzzzzzzzzz,” and “Ooooohhhhhh” are examples. It’s sadistic stuff.
*This article first appeared on JOE.ie
