String Of Pearls Volume 2 February 2014 | Page 27

Dear Annoyed Sister,

I decided to take this question because I'm an younger sister and felt I had a good perspective to give. I love and admire my big sister so much. She's someone I'd like to be like, so I love spending time with her. When I was little, I thought she and her friends were all super cool and so I wanted to be able to spend time amongst them. My advice for her would be to first, be flattered, then second, address the issue, even talking to your parents if they might know how to talk to your little sister better. Sit down with your sister, though, and be up front with her. For example, maybe your friends are coming over one night to have pizza and watch movies. Sit down with your sister before (earlier that day, the day before, etc.), and talk to her about what's going to happen. You might start by talking about her and her friends and how sometimes they just want to spend time by themselves together, and that you sometimes want to just spend time with your friends. Maybe let your sister eat pizza with you and your friends, but then ask her to let y'all watch the movies by yourselves, or vice versa. It lets her feel included and "super cool," but then you get time with your friends, too.

Here's another idea from another contributor: My mom used to have special time with me when my siblings would have friends over, so I got a special night, too. That's something you might talk to your parents about, or see if she can invite a friend over, so that she has a group or person that she would enjoy spending time with and wouldn't want to interrupt your night.

With darling love,

String of Pearls Girls

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