The Life Lessons Of Sisterhood: The 5 Reasons Every Girl Needs A Sister

I’ll never forget the first time I rode the subway. I was a young girl visiting my sister over the summer and we were on our way to some cutesy breakfast place. She must have known from my years of coming *this close* to purposely opening the car door on the highway that I’d also want to tiptoe the yellow line of falling into the third rail.

As we descended into the subway, she locked her arm into mine and told me that a special species of rats live in the tracks and they bite your toes then slowly eat the flesh off your face and eventually kill you. It took me years and “The Mole People” to realize that this wasn’t true, but you best believe I haven’t dared crossed that yellow line while waiting for a train, even while rushing.

It’s one of those invaluable, evergreen lessons we gain from having a sister. She has imparted so much knowledge on me -- everything from social skills, to courting a guy, to then also breaking up with him. Through it all, one thing remains true: She'll always have my back and I'll always have hers.

Here are the life lessons learned from a sister:

1. How to bargain properly

It’s 2002; neon, layered, skinny-string tank-tops are in; the summer night is cool, and you desperately want your older sister’s Mavi jean jacket. That jacket is a particularly hot-ticket item and you want it before you see it on the sunshine-haired athletic girl on your softball team. Enter: L’Art du Bargaining.

After one or two turns (that almost resulted in your sister stretching out your tie-dye t-shirt, noooo!!) you both settle on swapping jacket for chandelier earrings. It's then, my friends, when you realize she has just taught you that a good business deal is when two people feel like they are f*cking each other over.

2. It doesn’t matter if no one else knows about it; if you and your sister do, it’s COOL

Uh, what do you mean you haven’t heard of that weird children’s book where the children all live in a box car and solve mysteries and stuff?!

If someone hasn’t heard about that obscure, totally weird piece of entertainment that only you and your sister know about, then he or she is clearly missing out on a childhood. This also includes those whack-ass bracelets you and your sister only wear, or that mascara the two of you have sworn by since she first introduced you to it in middle school. Anyone else who doesn’t follow is a complete alien.

3. No matter how dysfunctional your family is, it’s yours… and you love them for it

The fact that dad shows up to basketball games dressed like Tony Soprano, or mom has an addiction to 90s pashminas, isn't a real reason to be annoyed with them, but when you are, it’s your sister who understands most. She taught you to be grateful for the family you have and that no matter what, they're whom you can fall back on.

4. How to hang tough and throw serious shade

When those baby bishes on the playground taunt your rolled Soffee shorts with sayings on the ass (Wait, timeout for a second. Can you actually believe we wore those? And that our moms bought us, like, a TON of them?), it’s your sister who told you to stiffen up and roll your eyes at the haters. Girls can be a very complicated species and who better to teach you how to deal with that fact than your female-best-friend-partner-in-crime-forever sister?

5. Be your own person

You may have learned this indirectly from your sister -- aka, you don’t want to follow in her footsteps and attend her college. Or maybe she was teased in high school for having some flaw and she’s your role model to never stop being who you are. Either way, your sister has proven to you that loving yourself is what’s most important… but she always will, too.

Photo via We Heart It