My daughter who is 11 lives with a 17 year old and a 20 year old step brother and has the 8 year old visit on weekends. She adores the 17 year old who share her randome sense of humour and she is like a true sibling with the 8 year old. Often they play together brilliantly. Spy games, ninja games, dressing up etc. More often nowadays she moves into that preteen state where she just wants to read, write in her diary, watch chickflicks etc and her 'brother' is just a nuisance. The thing is, I remember feeling the same way about my OWN sister!!!! When the chips are down though I feel she would look after him and the way they slip back into their creative play from time to time reinforces the fact that they really do value each other. We have only been together as a family for a little over a year so I feel really blessed that the kids are so much like real siblings. There is rarely any jealousy over parents...my daughter being more prone to that when I am giving the little one attention but as she is now moving into 'I wouldn't be seen dead with Mum' mode, this is becoming less of a problem. I worry about my daughter having so much to do with the 17 year old, especially when she goes down to sit in 'The Pit' with them and watch them play dodgy computer games. I generally haul her out with an excuse and I have talked to the boys about her relative youth as compared to her looks and to be very careful what they say and 'play' in front of her. On the whole they have been pretty good. I don't know that there's anything we've done consciously which has contributed to our reasonably happy blend, I think we are just blessed!!! It doesn't mean we don't have the frequent conversation about 'not turning into the boys' as I carry 400 dirty plates up from the Pit though!!!!! :-D

My step daughter is 10 years older then my son. But they love each other and you can see it.. The minute she walks though the door he jumps on her like he was a puppy greating his owner coming home after a day at work.

They get a long just fine, but it breaks my heart sometimes because their ages are so far apart and I see him wanting to play with her while she is doing something that is just to old for him to do, or she is occupied just doing something she wants to do on her own.. I can't expect her to want to play with him all the time, I mean she is 10....

But she always takes time out of her day to sit with him and let him climb all over her or chase her around the room...

I was afraid that there might be a bit of jealousy from her being that our son gets to live with Daddy and it would seem that he gets more then she does as she is only with us every second weekend...  But it was not a problem. She understands that he is a baby and his needs are different, and when we go shopping she gets a kick out of looking at all the baby stuff.. I try to be pretty equal with what I get for the kids, but I see that it is not really needed, as they are two totally differnet kids and being 10 she knows this...