What to Do When your Sibling Comes Home from College
Do you have an older sibling returning from college this month? Are you not fully prepared for your parents to obsess over said sibling’s past year? Are you mentally ready for the constant bickering that will resume from the last time they were home? Have you even moved out of their room yet? Well do not worry, here’s a list of steps to take before he/she makes their grand entrance back home.
- Be prepared to hear only of their last semester for about two to three weeks. This is totally acceptable, as your parents have not seen them in quite some time, but it can be excessive. Just remember that you have been the center of attention for a whole school year—let your sibling have a little time in the sun!
- Girls, this one’s for you— hide ALL of your favorite clothes. Your sibling will steal your clothing without hesitation, so be on guard at all times and keep the closet under lock and key. Sidenote: be sure to check their laundry bag and see if they took any pieces of yours to college and are just now bringing them back.
- Drivers beware: you will most likely have to share a car for the summer. This means maintaining constant communication with your sibling, maybe even drafting a time chart. Or just keep the keys with your locked-away clothes!
- Summer vacation begins significantly earlier for college students, which means you will have to entertain your sibling during exam week. Stay calm, your AP Chem review will still be waiting as soon as you’re done occupying the bored college student. But be sure to put your foot down and hit the books—you are trying to get into college after all, so that you too one day can return the favor should there be any younger sibs!
- Here’s a biggie—bathroom space. Many siblings (forcibly) share a bathroom, but, if you’re anything like me, you’ve enjoyed having one to yourself. Unfortunately, all good things must come to an end and, thus your personal bathtub is back to being shared.
- I’m sure you have adjusted to having one less sibling in the house or being an only child, so this whole ‘returning for the summer thing’ is not necessarily your cup of tea. Gone are the days with no older sibling bossing you around or annoying you, but do not fret, my friend—it’s just for the summer! Soon enough you’ll be back to your regularly scheduled alone time.
- Oh, and don’t forget to cherish this time together. Soon enough, you’ll be away at college and they will most likely be working. These summer vacations may be the last you spend together before “adulting” begins— don’t take them for granted.
Random person • Nov 12, 2020 at 6:37 AM
My sister is coming home from college soon but I don’t want her to come home. Since she is a lot older than me she bosses me around and its like she criticized every part of me. But at college she has friends and she’s coming home in 2 weeks so all she’s going to talk about is her friends, and that makes me jealous, she spends no time with me but everyday with her friends, and I’ve learned how to be my self when she was gone but now she’s going to try to fit me into the mold she wants me to fit it! How do I deal with her? She’s bossy and not nice and if I say one thing to her about leaving me alone, she will say something rude then I will tell her to just STOP and I get yelled at by my parents! How do I deal with her?!?