My older sister is 51/2 years older than I am. My younger sister is 4 years younger than I. Although we all participated in many activities during middle childhood, the disparity in our ages kept sibling rivalries to a minimum. From my sisters I learned sharing and compromise. I also taught compromise to my younger sister. My younger sister loved to play "office" and "library." She begged me to play every day. Eventually, we developed a compromise. I got to be the "boss" or "head librarian"; she had to be the "secretary"! She still complains about that to this day. Because we were all the same sex, we were constantly compared both by our parents as well as other adults in our lives. This led to some antagonism on my part as I hated being told I was "just like my sister." However, I learned a lot from my siblings during this period and depended on them for companionship and emotional support.
