Last week the internet celebrated National Sibling Day. I think it was primarily an online celebration, because my social feeds were full of childhood pre-digital photos of groups of siblings in 70s bellbottoms and bad haircuts. It was nice to see people celebrating the special relationship that siblings share. I’m one of those lucky people who counts her siblings among her best friends. Some of us Cole kids work together, all of us own a cottage together, and we enjoy the extended sibling relationships that our kids seem to be sharing as very close cousins.

I also shared a photo of the group of beautiful siblings I created. Although ours is occasionally a house full of the sound of bickering, I always remind the kids that the people who love them the MOST in this entire world actually live in our noisy house.

While it’s wonderful to celebrate our siblings, days like these can prove painful for some. I think about my friends who have lost siblings. I think about people who do not have close relationships with their siblings. Those whose siblings have caused them pain.

I also think about my friends who only have one child and perhaps wanted to provide their babes with a sibling but it was not in the cards. I have some friends who feel guilty that their child doesn’t have a partner in crime. I think in those moments of worry, it’s important to remember that sibling-like relationships can come from other places too – close friends, cousins, step-siblings, etc.  Any number of kids in a family is the perfect number for that family.

One thing I know for sure about National Sibling Day is that while everyone posted cute pics of brothers and sisters, my only child pal, Stacey from The Mint Chip Mama won the internet with this self-portrait.