Being in a large family is like living out in the world. For example, in a large family you don’t always get a name; you get a number. (I’m number six.) You don’t always get what you want. Sometimes you have to wear what someone has already worn. (Like buying a previously owned home.)
The teachers always ask, “You are so and so’s little brother or sister.” She thinks she knows how you will act. (Like in the world opinions are formed on where you come from.)
And when the oldest one leaves home to go to college, the others fight for the bedroom like people who fight for land. Also, when one leaves home, the things you leave behind are at risk. The aquarium might disappear from the table in the corner of your bedroom. Your posters might also be taken down. (You abandon a place and transients might take over.)
And when you return for Thanksgiving vacation and you take your problem to your mother, you may not get a welcome answer. (Like the United Nations who doesn’t know what to do with a country, errant or not.)
Yes indeed, living in a large robust family and trying to get along while learning to compromise is very much like adults living in the larger world. We have to get along, sometimes look the other way, and visit with one another from time to time.
