Sisters..how can we be so very very different

@saundyl (9783)
Canada
April 20, 2009 4:09pm CST
I find it odd that other than personality my sister and i are so very different. We were raised by the same parents, same lifestyle but...we are so different now that we are grown up. My sister is the kind of person that she cant have anything second hand its got to be new and expensive. She's embarrassed to use coupons and get free samples. Shes gungho about mountain climbing and sky diving. Shes a very image conscious person - always on a diet even though she doesnt need to be...like i said the stuff she buys has to be the best or not at all. As a teen she used to demand having the designer jeans and then have a cow because the rest of us got more selections to take home because we were happy with the pairs of jeans for 20-30 dollars from walmart where as hers were 120 for one pair. Me - I'm cheap I like to get second hand things and fix them up and be proud of my own handiwork...second hand means it costs less not that I'm poor. I dont care if someone sees me in my pjs at noon on a saturday, I could care less about makeup or fashion and designer clothes. My other two sisters are very similar to me... I understand that interest are different..but it just strikes me as so odd how from the same parents and such people can turn out so very different. Are your siblings similar to you in life outlook or very different?
3 people like this
13 responses
@Opal26 (17679)
• United States
21 Apr 09
Hi saundyl! I don't have any sisters so I really couldn't say, but I do know that it is very possible for siblings to be different! I have friends that have sisters and they have different personalities. They may be similar in some ways, but not all! Like you said, two of your sisters are similar and only one is very different! So that is very possible! She wants to be the oddball! If she wants to waste her money on designer names then let her! I personally feel that your way is the better way! I am more like you! Can I be your sister too? I would much rather buy a whole bunch of stuff for less money then one thing for more money! I see no purpose in wasting money like that! Let me know if your family can adopt me! lol
2 people like this
@saundyl (9783)
• Canada
21 Apr 09
I like getting more for my money...if i take care of things they last just as long as something overpriced. I like adopting new family members!
@ravinskye (8237)
• United States
20 Apr 09
You know its funny, I was just saying the same thing to my husband the other day. My sister and I are pretty different too. She is the same way with some things. For her son she has tons of clothes given to her and she passed most of them down for me even though there was nothing wrong with them. Relationships are different too. We came from a stable home and our parents have been married for 30 years. I was always one for serious relationships where she jumped around quite a bit. She always picked these loser guys that cheated on her or took advantage of her and she let them do it. I wish we were more alike I would like to be closer to my sister.
2 people like this
@saundyl (9783)
• Canada
21 Apr 09
I'm not close to this sister iether...she and i clash majorly. We lived together for 8 months in college and ended up almost hating each other to the point that now 3 years later we can actually talk nicely to each other and not instantly be at each other's throats. (shes a button pusher she will push my buttons til im so mad i could strangle her just cause it gives her a thrill to make me mad)
@KrauseHome (36447)
• United States
22 Apr 09
Personally I think it is all a matter of taste. I know my sisters and I are definately different. I have been one for a long time now that really prefers name Brand clothing over WalMart, and especially 2nd hand. I will shop the clearance racks most of the time, and really good sales most of the time for sure. What bugs me about Thrift Stores is why they charge sometimes just as much for second hand stuff as I pay brand New is beyond me for sure. But it is a matter of taste. My sisters have always been opposites of me usually and have never really been picky, so I am sure there are differences in all families out there for sure.
1 person likes this
@saundyl (9783)
• Canada
23 Apr 09
It makes sense in ways.
@reinydawn (11643)
• United States
21 Apr 09
We're all kinda different - there are 5 of us, I have 2 brothers (one older and one younger) and 2 sisters (both younter). In some ways we're the same, but quite a bit of our tastes are different. Now, I did not live with my brothers and sisters from the timeI was 15 until my mid-twenties, but for our youngest years we were all raised the same.
1 person likes this
@reinydawn (11643)
• United States
21 Apr 09
You know, this got me to thinking about my sons... They were raised the same, they're close in age, had most of the same experiences and they've always pretty much been like night and day. One was always a saver, one was always a spender. One loves education, the other could care less about it... I have no idea why they're so different either.
1 person likes this
@saundyl (9783)
• Canada
22 Apr 09
I guess it always surprises me ( i know people are different) how two people from the same family can have such different values about things like money or even religion.
1 person likes this
@saundyl (9783)
• Canada
21 Apr 09
I agree everyone is different i just have trouble with how different people can be and be raised by the same parents. I could understand if my baby sister had such a vastly different attitude to money that my first sister has because shes 10 years younger than my 2nd sister (i have three sisters) and she is spoiled because shes the baby and the rest of us are adults...and we've almost lost her a few times to cancer so ...i can totally understand if she grows up with totally different attitudes...but the other one puzzles me lol.
1 person likes this
• United States
20 Apr 09
It doesn't surprise me. Even though two people grow up in the same environment with the same parents, it doesn't mean they'll turn out the same. A lot of your personality comes from you. My sister and I are actually pretty similar. We're both big readers, love to write, fun-loving, and kinda crazy at times. But we're not completely the same. She has more of an artistic side than I do for instance (I can't draw to save my life). She's a bit shier than I am, and she's much more sensitive than me. She'll cry for touching scenes in movies or books, and I won't. (I know... I'm such a weird female). I'm much more active than she is. I love to dance and run while she would prefer to stay seated all day. It doesn't have anything to do with the way we were raised or where we grew up... it's just us.
1 person likes this
@saundyl (9783)
• Canada
21 Apr 09
It sounds like you really love your sister.
• United States
8 May 09
Yes, I do. We're quite close.
@Missyt (3)
• Canada
21 Apr 09
I don't find it that odd that personality between siblings is different...personality makes you who you are. If you told me that you and your sister had completely different moral views of the world after being raised in the same household, I might find that odd...but personality? No. My sister is just barely three years younger than me, and growing up we had the regular sibling rivalry, she was daddy's little princess and I was a tomboy (lol)...she would pick flowers and refused to wear anything but dresses, and I would smash around in dad's workshop and misplace all his tools. We were never close as children..mostly because our INTERESTS were so different..she wanted to play barbie, and I wanted to go fishing. Today..we're still not close, most probably because we still don't share any of the same interests, and we were not close growing up...we didn't really make any kind of bond that would hold us together as adults, and honestly...I'm ok with that. You can't choose your family, you get what you get...but just because someone is family doesn't mean that you are required to be best friends, it just means you are family. In an ideal world perhaps siblings are inseparable and will move mountains for each other (movies are wonderful things)..but in the real world, siblings don't always get along, and doing so is not required in order to be happy or function as a family. My sister and I may be different...night and day in fact...but I don't find that odd or disturbing in the least, that's just how people are. :)
1 person likes this
@saundyl (9783)
• Canada
22 Apr 09
I guess when i wrote mmy discussion i was sounding like personality but i know people ARE different its the veiws about money, religion and the things that affect everyone in a family that surprise me when they are different between siblings.
@GardenGerty (160940)
• United States
21 Apr 09
Somewhat similar, somewhat different. My sibs and I are a little of both. My youngest sister is deceased. My oldest sister is a half sister. I would say that my younger sister, my brother, and I are alike we are all workaholics. My older sister is an excuseaholic. None of us are too proud to buy second hand. All of us have some kind of creative vision for our recycled treasures. My older sister, like my mom, holds on to "stuff" even when the stuff becomes trash or junk. I am cluttered, but I do not have to own things to feel wealthy. Sometimes the neediness is a sign of insecurity or a feeling that they lacked attention.
@saundyl (9783)
• Canada
21 Apr 09
I hadnt thought of it as an insecurity...or lacking attention. I hate feeling cluttered...I'm glad i dont like a ton of stuff around (i have garage sales to get rid of extra stuff of my own and other family members every spring i have fun doing it. Another thing my sister thinks is embarrassing.)
• United States
21 Apr 09
I always found a correlation between the way the people were raised and how they viewed clothes and other such things so this is an interesting story for me. My only other sibling is a 8 year old little brother (I am 19) so I don't really know how to compare but it's interesting to know that you and your other two sisters are more alike where as this one sister sticks out as a very "gotta be new and expensive" person.
1 person likes this
@saundyl (9783)
• Canada
23 Apr 09
I just find it so odd that 3 of the 4 of us are so similar in that respect and then shes way different.
@busyB4 (874)
• United States
20 Apr 09
My sister and I were nothing alike either. We had very little in common. Then my daughters are all different also, as different as day and night. I have to say though you sound the most practical of the two of you, which will get you through harder times than someone who has to have the finest of it all. Each to his own I guess!
1 person likes this
@saundyl (9783)
• Canada
21 Apr 09
Yes, Each to their own. Soemtimes i wonder if the insistence on no second hand stuff is in part her husbands influence as he came from a family that was a lot better off than ours was.
@jessi0887 (2788)
• United States
21 Apr 09
I read this and though wow sounds like me and my sister. My sister prefers expensive stuff as well. I like to save money as much as possible. So i buy used stuff and take handmedowns as well. When i was pregnant i didn't have alot so i was happy when alot of stuff was given to me even if it was used or new. For her when she was pregnant everything was practically new and had to be real nice. I got her a changing table that was over 20 years old and was just so precious but she begged our dad to buy a 80 dollar changing table from walmart. My sister is just outrageous when it comes to spending money. Just last week i was talking to my mom about cell phones. My sister went i spent two hundred dollars to get a new phone and new contract. She already had a decent phone that just needed minutes but never mind she has a baby and three step children to feed. She just doesn't think. Her husband is just as bad. He is an overgrown child.
1 person likes this
@saundyl (9783)
• Canada
22 Apr 09
Wow thats a pretty big difference. So far i cant say either of us have kids to support so maybe she will be more frugal when she has kids.
@prinzcy (32305)
• Malaysia
21 Apr 09
I am different from my younger sister. Our looks are different. I am the one with big eyes while she inherited beautiful chinese looks from my mom. I am always jealous of her straight hair while I have wavy hair. She is so skill with massaging while I can only make people laugh when I touch them. But I win over with cooking skills . Despite that we have the same hobby : collecting stuffs.
1 person likes this
@saundyl (9783)
• Canada
23 Apr 09
Thats the other thing with the one sister...the rest of us are blond haired and blue eyed like our dad. She is like our mom...actually looks VERY much like our mom did at her age. Shes also a terrible cook (her husband got her a fire alarm for and extinguisher for christmas as a joke)
@chastity7 (104)
• United States
21 Apr 09
All siblings are different. My sisters and I do share alot of similar interests, but we have alot of differences too. I'm more the shy, softspoken one, my older sister is more of a hellion, and my oldest sister is just kinda her own person. We all have different traits and qualities that make us who we are. I think that life experiences and the events that take place in our lifes shape us and our personalities, so the fact that you were probably more similar growing up is because you were in the same environment, exposed to the same elements everyday, but as you get older and you grow and mature, and go through whatever life experiences you do, that all shapes you into who you are now.
@saundyl (9783)
• Canada
22 Apr 09
That makes alot of sense - thanks!
• Philippines
21 Apr 09
I don't have any sister/s, but I think it is pssible that you'll be different in some ways. One reason for me is the fact that maybe (I'm assuming)that you have different set of friends. Especially for teeangers, they have to have their own idenity, most of the times their friends/ classmates have the most influential aspect to their personality. As she tries to be one of them, you view her to be different. but in most cases as people grow old you'll find things that will make you stop and say "yeah we're really are sisters". hope to help yah..
@saundyl (9783)
• Canada
22 Apr 09
The friends do make a difference. It still surprises me when people from the same family have vastly different attitudes towards money or religion and that sort of thing.