If you were part of a big family growing up, you’ll know that while it was mad, hilarious, and at times frustrating – you really couldn’t be luckier.
 
But times have changed. According to research by Laya Healthcare*, 43 per cent of us were part of a big family of four kids or more, but nowadays, only nine percent of people in Ireland have big families.
 
So as a tribute to the joy of big families, we’ve compiled seven glorious things about growing up with a team of siblings:
 
1. Your name was never YOUR name
 
Yep, instead our mother called us our brother’s name or our sister’s or more often than not, a mish mash of the names of every single one of our siblings. “DonnaRyanLukeThomasGODImeanAmanda, come in; your dinner is ready!” Of course it wouldn’t matter a jot that your name was actually Deirdre.
 
 
2. Our siblings had our back in school
 
Although until someone actually messed with us, they would pretend we didn’t exist. Still, it made starting school way less scary to know that we had a ready-made team of people to stick up for us if the going got tough.
 
3. Blame was utterly shameless
 
Where was the loyalty? We would drop our siblings in it any chance we got, because growing up in a big family was all about survival (and dodging a ‘giving out’). “She did it Mam!” “Hey, it wasn’t ME?” and “I was only doing it because they made me!” were the of-repeated phrases, usually accompanied by a faux-hurt look of ‘unfair persecution’.
 
 
4. There was no room for sensitivity
 
God love us but we had no choice but to develop a very thick skin. Well wouldn’t you if your older siblings decided to christen you Miss Piggy because you were a little chubby and had curly hair?
 
5. War broke out over toys
 
Deciding who got the next ‘go’ on the only BMX in the house was akin to warfare. There would be indignant screams, tears and accusations, until with a resigned sigh, our mam finally intervened. And by this we mean she took the bike off us and put it in the shed so she would get a bit of peace.
 
 
6. We invented mad, hilarious threats
 
Everything had to be shared, so staking our claim on the likes of chairs, food, and bedroom space became an obsession. To deal with it, we came up with a series of threats we hoped would deter our siblings – like every time we left the room we would say something like, “Whoever steals my seat when I go to the toilet will see a banshee tonight”. These threats had varying levels of success.
 
7. There was a new craze every five minutes
 
We would regularly get carried away with our favourite film of the moment, and the craze would permeate everything. So if we watched The Goonies for example, all our games would be Goonies-related (younger siblings got to play the least cool characters of course) – and we would drive our parents bonkers with the constant begging that they move us out to America.
 
 
According to Laya Healthcare, 73 per cent of people surveyed DO want a bigger family, but feel they can’t due to financial constraints. Laya Healthcare is helping take the pressure off with their Free Kids offer on their Essential Connect Family scheme. You simply pay for one child’s health insurance, and the rest are FREE, no matter how many you have. For more on the offer, pop over to Laya Healthcare.
 
 
*Research carried out among 1,001 parents with children in Ireland between 2nd - 15th December, by iReach online survey, on behalf of Laya HealthcareInsurance provided by Elips Insurance Ltd trading as Laya Healthcare. Laya Healthcare Ltd trading as Laya Healthcare and Laya Life  is regulated by the Central Bank of Ireland.
14 Shares

Latest

Trending