“I may fight with my siblings, but once you lay a hand on them you’ll be facing me.”

Standing up for one sibling may seem tough sometimes, but standing up for four, five or more siblings seems almost impossible. For some students at Watkins Mill High School though, this is normal.

Most students have one or two siblings, or zero, but some have over four. Freshman Khava Tsarni lives with two brothers and four sisters. One of them is sophomore Naina Tsarni, the oldest, who also attends WMHS.

People may think having a lot of siblings is difficult, and it can be, but Khava does not mind. “It’s always warm and family-oriented in the house,” Khava said. However, there are cons, “I always have to share with them, and I always have to think about them, before me.”

Khava is also pressured to be a good role model for her younger siblings because she is the second oldest. She feels, “Pressured. A lot. I always have to think about my image,” Khava said. Even with the downsides, she would not change a thing. “The house would be very quiet and empty and I wouldn’t have anybody that I’d positively trust,” Khava added.

While growing up with younger siblings is stressful at times, WM students wouldn’t like to have grown up any other way. Growing up with one or more siblings has given them valuable lessons that kids without siblings might not have learned.

Senior Kathryn Bratt-Pfotenhauer,  has a little sister in seventh grade and a older brother in college, leaving her with the role of the middle child. Bratt-Pfotenhauer believes that  “compromising, negotiating, and just overall finding a middle ground is definitely something,” you learn when dealing with siblings. For Bratt-Pfotenhauer, “finding that middle ground, for me, was definitely beneficial.”

While growing up with siblings is a ride, it’s good to know that “you always have someone on your side if you guys decided to fight,” freshman Laylee Jackson said.  Jackson is the youngest of five siblings, two of whom also attend Watkins Mill.