advice – Llio Angharad

Or shall we say, two. The two who cause Cari to run straight to bed after school and hide her head under her pillow, refusing to talk for the remainder of the evening.

I’ve realised that, in whatever I’ve done or in the choices I’ve made, there was always one person trying to get me down. As I matured, I learned to ignore these negatives and learned that if I had listened to them, I wouldn’t be where I am now. Where I am now is the best I could ever ask for.

Explaining this to Cari was hard because these two have had such an effect on Cari’s young sponge-like mind. Yes, it’s frustraiting, but I know one day she will grow up and realise that these type of people don’t deserve her acknowledgement. And if I can do anything to make that day come sooner, I will, no matter how many sisterly talks I have to go through.

Big Sister Tip #2: There’s always one who’s going to do their best to make you feel inferior. Eventually, you will realise that they are the ones who don’t deserve to know you.

If you want to fly, let go of the things that keep you down!

And smile, always.

Little sister Ela has been nagging for ages for a trip to the hairdressers to cut a fringe (My offer for a free trim wasn’t tempting I guess…). Her persistence was slightly irritating. So, her wish was Mummy’s command and within an hour she was sat satisfied on the sofa with her new fringe perfectly framing her cutely chubby face.

The image of satisfaction faded after a while (a while being 20 mins), and a single melodramatic tear proved that the inevitable had happened: She didn’t want a fringe any more. And her reason being ‘people won’t like it in school’.

This shocked me, to say the least. My 8 year old little sister was already fearing what others think of her. This just isn’t right.

At her age, I lived outside. Constantly in the park, all grubby and muddy, not giving a damn what others thought of me. Ela shouldn’t be feeling pressured by others to look like what they wanted her to look.

So I sat her down for a sisterly chat, and wiped her tears.

Big Sister Tip #1 : Do you. If you can’t be you, who else can you be? You’re imperfectly unique and special. Those who truly love you will accept you no matter what you look like.

And smile, always.