I'll bet you never heard of this day, thank God for Hallmark. It does appear to be one of those Hallmark holidays, like Grandparents Day, or "Special Persons" Day that my kids and my siblings kids always had our parents come to school on.
Actually I think I heard about National Siblings Day - probably on the last National Siblings Day - but I was reminded of it in a text from my daughter this morning. She sent to my wife and I, and her own siblings. I did what every modern dad does, I googled it, and found that she is right - today is the day. When I checked on line, I found an article from the International Business Times which contained scientific facts and quotes about the sibling relationship and it was very interesting and actually made me think.
The first thing it said is that by age 11, children will devote one third of their free time to their brothers and sisters. That is supposedly more time than they give to friends, parents or themselves.
Next is that they help teach us social skills. It makes sense that children with brothers and sisters would learn early on how to get along with other kids. They may tend to be better at sharing that children with no siblings. I remember growing up, that you had a better chance of seeing Haley's Comet than you did of spending time alone in our house - and that's the way I still like it.
Some of this appears to be common sense, like boy who have sisters and girls who have brothers will probably get along better with the opposite sex, and may do better in romantic relationships.
The one that I liked the best is that sibling relationships are often the longest ones of our lives. The relationship starts and ends with life itself. It can outlast the relationship with parents and even spouses. There is a quote from Erica E. Goode that says "Sibling relationships-- and 80 percent of Americans have at least one -- outlast marriages, survive the death of parents, resurface after quarrels that would sink any friendship. They flourish in a thousand incarnations of closeness and distance, warmth, loyalty and distrust".
I always remember my dad telling us to take good care of each other, because some day your brothers and sisters may be the only thing you have. That is a sentiment that I have tried to instill in my children, and I think they are very close. I can also see it in my siblings' children. I always remember how close my dad and his brothers and sister were, and I think it really affected him when they each passed away. My mom too. She had two older brothers who she was very close to, and she took their passing very hard too.
Maybe that's another reason why our family is so close, because we saw it in our parents and their families. Even if they were not getting along at the time, you never heard about it - and you certainly wouldn't hear about it outside of the house. We may be mad at someone in the family, but nobody outside the family could say anything bad about him/her without repercussions, and they usually didn't want to find out exactly what the "repercussions" involved, cause it may be painful.
I grew up in a house with three brothers and three sisters. We had nine people living in a house with three bedrooms and one bathroom (usually with a waiting line). We also had one car, which was a company car that my dad was allowed to use for the family. He got a brand new car every two or three years and it was always a station wagon- probably because this was before mini vans. We all went to the grocery store and everyone had a place for his/her hand on the shopping cart, and we would walk across the parking lot together chanting "If one gets hit, we all get hit". We must have been quite a sight grocery shopping. As soon as we got in the store, Dad would say "okay spread out and steal" just to drive the security guy nuts - God help you if you ever took him seriously and took something. Speaking of God, this is the same group would fill an entire pew in church at Sunday Mass.
We had our ups and downs, and our little fights - but it never got in the way of being brothers and sisters - "All for one, and one for all". The Seven Musketeers. Some spats lasted longer than others, but in the end you know that your brothers and sisters are there for you. We have that sacred bond that only siblings can understand.
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