This post is inspired by Ronovanswrtites  BeWoW.

I come from quite a large family, having three older brothers and two sisters, one older and one younger; that makes me number five of six children, It’s quite funny how things worked out as my eldest brother and sister were born on the same day exactly a year apart, and myself and my younger sister were also born on the same day as each other but I am two years older.

Growing up, there was always someone around so there was not a lot of peace and quiet, nor was there any chance of being lonely. Of course sharing a birthday with my sister was quite nice as well. When we were younger we always got dressed the same and I think were treated as almost one entity of ‘the two girls.’ Mind you, for ages we fought like hell, pinching and scratching as well as pulling each other’s hair!

Now we all have children of our own, I remember how proud I was when I first became an aunty at 15. I now have a total of 10 nephews and nieces, two of those are also married. I also have my own daughter and was the last one out of the six to have children. Luckily I got in a fair bit of practice having all those nephews and nieces!

I think for me family is definitely about learning to share, but also keeping your wits about you. In our house if you weren’t looking, someone would nick a roast potato off your plate! However, there was always at least one person to play Monopoly or Mousetrap with (even if a fight did normally ensue)!

Family teaches you about relationships as well which applies to all sorts of other situations. You get to know your place in the hierarchy, which being fifth and extremely shy was pretty low down to start with! Respect is a large part of family life; I certainly had to respect my elders and of course my parents. When there are so many of you who have different personalities, you have to learn to try to respect each other’s differences.

Most importantly, family is love. Yes, we all have our fallings out, sometimes quite serious ones, but know that we will still be there for each other should anything happen, Forgiveness is also part of being a family. I know sometimes we all might have acted out of turn, but are usually forgiven!

Family is also about laughter. Sharing those hilarious moments with each other; reminiscing about the good times, or the bad; accepting each other, having someone to confide in; it is extremely important to me.

Family is being loved for yourself, and loving others for who they are, despite them driving us bloody crazy at times!