6 Things Oldest Siblings In The '90s Understand

Being an oldest sibling is tough at any time, but being an oldest sibling in the '90s had its own set of pressures and annoyances. When you're the oldest sibling, you have to deal with your parents when they're still strict. By the time they get to your younger brothers and sisters, they're too tired from reining you in they can't be bothered to be strict any more, and then you get to watch your youngers having the time of their lives, all the time, doing things you never would have been allowed to do. Younger siblings shadow you, use your things without asking, and cause general chaos in your otherwise peaceful life.

Younger siblings, if Full House is anything to go by, are also your best friends, and living dolls. Seriously. You can do anything to them and they're your willing canvases. If you need someone to plan some kind of sneak attack on your parents, your siblings have your back. They also look up to you and believe everything to say. Yeah, younger siblings are cool. Here are some things only oldest siblings in the '90s will understand, because as we know, the '90s were full of unique struggles and joys.

1. Wanting To Be Just Like Ross And Monica

While you and your younger siblings were constantly tormenting each other, Ross and Monica on Friends were the ideal brother/sister situation. You just wanted your younger siblings to be as fun to hang around as Monica! And you would be just as sad and pathetic as Ross! I mean, as protective and brotherly/older sibling-y.

2. The Feeling Of Your Younger Sibling Taping Over Saved By The Bell

Or any other show that was your favorite! Imagine coming home from sports on a Saturday, looking forward to sitting down with your favorite show, putting the tape in the VCR, pushing play, and only getting the first thirty seconds before some other silly kid crap cut off what you wanted to watch. The pain of having your shows taped over was real. It was something younger siblings did without thinking.

3. The Arguments Over Who Got To Use The Phone Line

Here's the drill: you needed to use the dial up Internet to look up something for a school assignment. Your younger sibling picked up the phone to call a friend. Your connection was cut out. Cue screaming, name calling, and dragging in of parents to mediate.

4. Getting In Trouble For Covering Your Baby Sibling In Glitter

When my brothers were toddlers, and I was a preteen, I would put them in dresses and cover them in blue eyeshadow and glitter. They looked like mini Spice Girls. The specific yell that comes out of a parent's mouth when they discovered their babies looking like something out of a Britney Spears video is a unique sound only oldest siblings from the '90s would understand.

5. Trying To All Get In On The Perfect Polaroid

What was it about polaroids with more than two people in them that was so hard to coordinate? If there were three of you, one would always inevitably get cut out of the polaroid, and before you knew it, you'd taken about 30 polaroids in an attempt to get it right. You never got it right. Eventually, your younger siblings would lose interest, they just didn't understand how important this perfect polaroid composition was to you.

6. Trying To Start A Baby-Sitters Club

I'm pretty sure the main goal of all oldest siblings in the '90s was to start a baby-sitters club. This was all well and good, but if you were 16 and your sibling was 14, it was pretty hard to wrangle them into believing that they needed the services of your baby-sitters club.

Images: Warner Bros. Television; Giphy (6)