While it hasn’t always been great, I’m appreciating being an only child more as I get older. I mean, there are a ton of perks. Here are the 10 best things about being an only child:

I never have to fight for my parents’ attention.

It’s less expensive. Less mouths to feed, cheaper family vacations and my parents don’t have to worry about sending a bunch of kids through college. And honestly, sending one is expensive enough. So holla for saving a lil’ money.

I never have to share with anyone else. It’s all mine!

I don’t have to compare myself/be compared to my siblings. This always happens to my friends with brothers and/or sisters, especially in school from teachers who had their older siblings! Sounds like an inferiority complex waiting to happen. Luckily, I never had to deal with any Jan Brady Syndrome.

Only children tend to mature faster than people with siblings.

My clothes are mine and mine only. I don’t have to worry about my siblings borrowing (aka stealing) my clothes without my permission or rummaging through my closet while I’m away. And no ugly hand-me-downs!

I don’t have to worry about my sibling blabbing to my parents about something that I shouldn’t have done.

Only children have so much alone time that we have to figure out ways to entertain ourselves, especially as kids. Because of that, I have a huge imagination and am naturally creative.

I never had to babysit my siblings or drop them off/pick them up when I’d rather be doing something else, anything else.

I’ve always been incredibly independent and always will be.

Are you an only child? What do you love about it? Tell us in the comments!

The 10 best things about having a sister

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Anyway, seeing movies as a family is rare, but watching an R-rated movie is rarer than Halley’s Comet. Why? Uh, I can’t be the only one who finds watching anything remotely racy and explicit with my parents to be incredibly awkward. I just can’t be. Well, I know that I’m not because GIF Girl agrees with me. Here’s her experience watching R-rated movies with her parents in GIFS!

You don’t come into the movie expecting anything gratuitous nudity. I mean, it’s a movie about something tragic like war…

 Or a comedy.

And the violence isn’t the problem.

And the language isn’t a problem, either.

Nope, the problem is when the boobs and peen start coming out.

Look, I know that it says a lot about us as a culture to be so prudish about the human body; I think it’s ridiculous. Why do we feel more freaked out by a penis on the big screen than somebody’s head getting chopped off? But I’m not going to lie: As soon as the nakedness turns into a sex scene, the awkwardness is unbearable.

Honestly, I forget to breathe. Instead of focusing on the movie, I’m worried about what my parents think if all of this sudden surprise!sex.

I turn to dad who looks stoic as ever.

But I’m sure he’s wondering just how much I know about the mechanisms of sex. 

We never had the talk, okay? Thanks, school.

Anyway, my mom looks like she is about to laugh because she feels just as embarrassed as I do.

But then she decides to cover my eyes once things get really heavy.

And I’m like…

Excuse me?

I’ve seen it all before, mom. I just turn the channel before you notice.

And speaking of watching TV, isn’t it ridiculous that when I’m watching something on TV, it looks like a puritanical dreamland when only I’m there.

But as soon as my parents come downstairs it becomes straight up soft-core porn.

I learned that the hard way with Girls and Game of Thrones. Maybe I just need to stop watching HBO around my parents. But I’m starting to think that there is some kind of conspiracy going on…

The media just wants us to feel as awkward as possible about genitals and sex around our patents. And it’s working, because I end up feeling like this.

Do you have an awkward story about watching scandalous stuff with your parents? Does watching racy stuff with your parents not bother you? Tell us in the comments!

Your Relationship With Your Parents & How You Deal With Them
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Whether the school year is coming to a close or you’re jetting off to a far away place, you’re going to say goodbye to someone. No matter if your time apart is short, long, or unknown, saying farewell takes a little something out of you. Here are some quotes to help you keep calm and carry on.

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What’s the worst part about saying goodbye to someone you care about? How well do you keep in touch? Tell us in the comments!

What Being In Love With Your Best Friend Is Really Like, In GIFs
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This week on the message boards, you girls are talking about if you should tell your younger sister that you lost your virginity. Should you tell her just to have a more open relationship? Or tell her in order to warn her about sex?

Let’s see what y’all had to say:

lucidkitty said:

You telling her isn’t going to stop her from having sex if that’s what you think. Tell her that you aren’t one, and say you are there to talk to her if she needs to about that stuff. But if you are like “erhmagerd ner serrxxxxxx”, chances are she won’t ever open up.

SmileyVamp said:
She isn’t going to ask permission to start having sex. It’s not like you did. Just let her know you are there if she needs to talk. You can’t stop her from having sex, but you can make sure she is safe about it. Don’t make it sound like you are just assuming she is having sex though. She could be a completely different teen than you were, and you don’t want to offend her.

open4801 said:
It’s up to you if you want to tell. Most sisters know it but they just don’t say anything first. So she may already know you’re not a virgin. Telling her will let her know that you care for her, but she has a mind of her own. Think of it as gurl.com. You’re giving and asking advice, but it’s up to that person to take your words and learn from it. I say tell and let her know why your telling her.

Since I don’t have any biological sisters, I asked a few of my friends for some input. One friend’s older sister told her she wasn’t a virgin when we were both very young. She basically became our go-to person to ask questions about sex, which was really helpful especially since my friend and I weren’t comfortable enough talking to our parents.

Another friend of mine is an older sister. She didn’t tell her younger sister she wasn’t a virgin because she didn’t want her sister to think she should have sex just because her older sister did. And they didn’t have the type of sisterly bond where they could talk about sex openly.

So I honestly think it depends on your relationship with your sister. If you’re going to tell her as some kind of warning to not have sex, don’t. Talking to a sibling, especially a younger one, is a very personal conversation. Don’t use it as some sort of lecturing device.

If I had an older sister, I would have wanted her to tell me so I knew I had someone I could talk to. I say, if you think it feels right to tell your baby sis, then tell her. She might be scared to ask you!
 
Would you tell your little sister that you’re not a virgin? If you’re a younger sister, would you want to know? Tell us in the comments!

Need advice on a different topic? Do you have a story you want to share? Post your own thoughts and questions in our boards and start chatting with other girls.

Should you forgive a cheater and give him another chance?

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There isn’t a right or wrong way to enjoy your 3 day weekend. You can spend all day unwinding on the internet or do a little bit of traveling. Or you can even do both and end up bored out of your mind like GIF Girl.

I don’t wake up in the morning feeling like P Diddy…but I deffo wake up past noon.

And while I don’t brush my teeth with a bottle of Jack, I’m definitely not brushing my hair.

Then I check the fridge for the millionth time, as if food will appear the more I look at it…

And then I refresh Tumblr for the billiionth time…

I’m left wondering if I should actually do something awesome with my weekend. Like go outside and get some sunlight.

Interact with other human beings?

Take a walk?

So I go on Tumblr and ask my followers what they think I should do. 

Probably not the best question to ask them. Honestly.

But then thereis a moment of clarity. I remember that I’m young and I should be going out living life. YOLO??? What about going to a party? I love parties! Remember that last party when I–

Ok, maybe I should just aim for putting on some actual clothes today at the very least. That’s a good start.

But as soon as I garner up the motivation to actually leave my bed–I put on pants!–my parents decide that this would be the perfect time to visit a family friend for their annual Memorial Day BBQ.

That’s a 3 hour car ride…

Why did I want to leave the house, again?

Well, I don’t have a choice on the matter anyway so I might as well suck it up.

So I’m stuck at our family friend’s house with their weird 14-year-old son who says “epic fail” too much for comfort. Their house smells like cats and Mr. Whatshisface is not as good at grilling as he claims. I’d rather eat the kitty litter than that burger.

But it get’s worst. As if all of that isn’t bad enough…their wifi isn’t working.

So I give up. I give in and surrender myself to another boring 3 day weekend. At least the next holiday is summer vacation. MY BODY IS READY.

What are you doing this holiday weekend? Are you interested in traveling or laying around your house? Tell us in the comments!

The One Thing You Need To Do With Your Boyfriend This Summer: Road Trips!

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Sure, there are times when I’d rather lay on the couch all day and binge-watch episodes of Scandal while eating a whole bag of Cheetos (I’ve totally never done this ever). But when I tell a friend I’ll hang out with them, I always follow through. Because friendship! There’s really nothing that gets under my skin more than a friend who blows you off.

And yet I still have those friends. I have this one friend who I love to death, but recently she’s become the biggest flake ever. It’s really, really getting on my nerves. We’re really close, but lately every time we make plans to hang out, she comes up with a last minute excuse to back out. And usually I’ll see on Instagram or Twitter that she’s out with another friend!

If you don’t want to hang out, then don’t make plans! It’s that easy. I’d much rather know beforehand so I can plan to do something with someone else. It’s so annoying! And if you’re going to flake on a friend, don’t put it on social media where they can see it.

I think it’s really tough on me because I often go out of my way to do things for this friend, but she can’t even bother to have lunch with me or text me back.

This is basically how I feel. Source: helloosunshine

And she doesn’t just break lunch and dinner dates. She avoids texts and phone calls even when I have something really important to talk about. I think I’ve been trying to keep the friendship in tact because I don’t want to go through another friend breakup, but it might be time to let it go.

The hardest part about dealing with a flaky friend is that it’s so difficult to talk to them about it. How can you talk to someone who’s become a total pro at avoiding you? It’s virtually impossible! I’ve called and texted. I’ve even Facebook messaged her! All with no luck. I don’t know what there is to do except talk to my friend and let her know how hurtful her actions have been.

I want to know what y’all think. How do you deal with a flaky friend? Have you ever brought it up before? Did she know she was being flaky? Tell me in the comments!
 

At least this friend isn’t a frenemy, right?

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In honor of today being Mother’s Day, we here at Gurl got to thinking about our moms and we wanted to share some of our moms’ wisdom with you. Click on each of us to see three important life lessons we learned from our moms!

Julie:

Click to see lessons from Julie’s mom!

Jessica:

Click to see lessons from Jessica’s mom!

Caitlin:

Click to see lessons from Caitlin’s mom!

Meg:

Click to see lessons from Meg’s mom!

Danielle:

Click to see lessons from Danielle’s mom!

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I mean, moms give us life. That’s amazing! They also feed us, wash our clothes, take care of us when we’re sick. They offer sage words of wisdom and are there when you need a good cry. Moms do a lot for us, and this is their day of appreciation!

You should appreciate your mom everyday, but this is a day totally reserved for her! If you haven’t made plans for your mom next week yet, it’s okay! Your mom doesn’t expect you to give her a crazy and extravagant day. But this is your chance to pamper her!

Click through for your complete guide to mother’s day!

If that’s your case, you may want to take a look here in the Gurl comments. There’s a good chance you may find a fellow reader who can relate to your situation or has ideas that could maybe help you establish a more positive bond with your parents by sharing their personal experiences, situations and relationships with their parents.

Here’s what you have had to say in the past about your relationship with your parents and how to deal with them when you don’t always see eye to eye.

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How would you describe your relationship with your parents? Do you have any helpful tips for teens about dealing with your parents? Tell us in the comments!

How To Deal With Strict Parents

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It can be really hard to tell if you have a frenemy because they’re friendly, nice and probably do care about you deep down. They just maybe are too honest or are always trying to beat you at something. Or saying things that anyone else would take offense to.

Here are 15 ways to tell if you have a frenemy:

She never wants to listen to you.

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She’s always bossing you around.

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She gives you backhanded compliments.

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She always slightly critiquing you.

Source: michaelsocha

She asks you questions that make you question yourself.

Source: sempeternal

She throws your secrets back at you as insults.

Source: joan-callamezzo

She tries to control everything in your life by “being helpful.”

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She’s knocks down your ideas.

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She judges you a lot.

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She says something nice before saying something mean to soften the blow.

Source: mapstothestars

Or sometimes she just says things that are waaaaaay too honest.

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Her problems are always more important.

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And she has a bit of an ego.

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She says things like this behind your back.

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But underneath it all, she’s still your friend!

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Here’s how to deal when your frenemy talks about you behind your back

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