Why Sisters Are Actually The Best

(In case you can't guess, I'm the pale, gross, blind bundle next to the adorable Asian six year old)

1. You can wear matching dresses

Isn’t that the best? And then you can instagram cute photos of you two together on Throwback Thursday (#tbt) ? My sister, Dana, and I wore matching dresses for awhile until she turned like eight and went through a phase when she was way too cool to be matching her much younger sister. (Actually, she’s still too cool for me because she lives in San Francisco, works for a startup that sends her to cool places while I study my ass off in school). I specifically remember wanting to wear the same dress as her that probably summed up my 90’s childhood: a sleeveless dress with a little hello kitty smack in the middle of my chest with plaid skirt. Dana refused.I cried.And officially gone were the days of us matching. It was good while it lasted.

2. She’ll support your binge eating and your remorseful complaining afterward

Basically, guys don’t understand why girls have such problems with food. For them it’s like this: they eat when they’re hangry, they stop when they’re full, and they eat again when they’re bored, watching Top Gear, or distracting themselves from the work they have to do. Girls are so different. We can’t just eat. There needs to be a level of control or else we’ll just get fat and sad. I don’t understand why guys’ metabolisms are so high. Anyway, our level of controlling food intake is normally good but once in awhile, we binge eat something. For me, it’s usually chips and salsa. Afterwards, I feel not only sick but really guilty. Like, someone explain to me why chips made with corn (which is healthy) can accumulate to 1000+ calories. Anyway, after eating all those chips I’ll usually sit there and complain about how fat I feel. My sister will nod and make me feel better. She gets it. She also supports me when I say, “fuck it. I’m eating whatever I want” and watch me further stuff my face with cookies or brownies or whatever awesomely shitty food there is near me. (By awesomely shitty, I mean just awesome.)

3. She’ll like your photos

Sure, someone can like your photo that you’ve posted, but is it really liked until its “like- liked” aka they have pressed the literal like button? A classic conversation between my sister and I consists of us asking each other to like one another’s Facebook picture or Instagram picture. Usually terse, “Like my photo.” But seconds later, I see that beautiful little heart notification on Instagram, meaning she liked the photo. Why do I care about likes? I couldn’t tell you. But my sister understands and the need is always reciprocated. We’ve become for each other, what our generation calls, “an automatic like.”

4. She tells you if you’re ugly

This sounds a bit harsh, and it may be. But, sometimes your friends just don’t have the gut or boldness to tell you that you just look like shit in the same way that sometimes people don’t tell you when you have food in your teeth or when your breath stinks. Like, why wouldn’t you just tell me? I don’t really want to walk around with a piece of lunch in my teeth or talk to people who probably are dying in my cloud of bad breath. That’s when sisters come in. She’ll tell you if you’re hair needs a wash or if that outfits sucks. I learned this from a young age. I was probably seven or eight and I was wearing a yellow jacket from GAP, mind you, which I thought was just so cute. She looked at it and asked, “Is that really what you’re wearing?” I immediately teared up, turned around, changed, and never looked back. Sometimes, you need constructive (harsh) criticism to make it in this God forsaken world and sisters are always there to give it.

5. You can talk about boys

Who wants to talk about sex with their brother? Not many. Your parents? No. Your friends? Sure, but it gets to a point when it becomes a game of who has done what. With a sister, there’s nothing to hide, and there’s a slim chance that you’ll feel threatened by her expertise or lack of expertise with boys. It’s just a natural conversation with no one trying on-up the other.

6. She looks out for you

Whether she’s older or younger, she wants the best for you no matter what. Sometimes, even good friends will do things that leave you in the dust. Sisters are awesome in that they love you so much that they look out for your well being. It’s a good feeling and doesn’t need much explanation.

7. You don’t have to constantly text them

I’ve realized over the last few years something about texting. And it’s this: if someone is a close enough friend, you don’t worry about having to keep up a conversation with him/her via text because you know they’ll always be in your life. Of course, I still text my good friends and family, but I never feel pressured to shoot them a hello. I know that at the end of the day, they’re not going anywhere. Because if there’s one thing I hate is an awkward text conversation when I actually have nothing to say but feel like I should text a person because I should keep up the friendship. Sisters are there for life, so I don’t have to text my sister 24/7. Actually, we probably only text 4-5 times a month. And that’s fine, because texting is annoying and my sister isn’t.

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8. She’ll love you when you’re past your prime

Last, but not least. Sisters are awesome, because even when you’re either fat, ugly, wrinkly, heart broken, smelly or all of the above, she’ll love you all the same. Not that a brother or parents or friends won’t, but ignore that and just remember: sisters are actually the best.