getting rid of bigs/littles? - Page 2

AlphaXi_Husky · #16 07-23-2008, 04:04 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by nittanyalum

I don't even know what twins are. Is that 2 littles at the same time? Or just 2 littles in general?

Yes, it is two littles at one time. I have seen this happen quite often as some members aren't able to afford to take on a little sis, or the new member class seems to bond more with certain older members.

In response to a different question from an AXiD above - in some chapters not just the sophomore class takes on littles (which it sounds like is what happens at your chapter - correct me if I'm wrong). Sometimes the new member class is very large and juniors (and even seniors) take on littles, thus enabling a upperclasswoman to have two or more littles.

33girl · #17 07-23-2008, 04:11 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by nittanyalum

I don't even know what twins are. Is that 2 littles at the same time? Or just 2 littles in general?

In our terminology it was just 2 littles in general, who had the same big. This probably varies from chapter to chapter.

OleMissGlitter · #18 07-23-2008, 04:23 PM

I had 4 little sisters! One my sophomore year, one my junior year and two my senior year!

I think big/little programs are very important. My big sis was an amazing mentor and so were her friends from her pledge class.

kstar · #19 07-23-2008, 04:29 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 33girl

In our terminology it was just 2 littles in general, who had the same big. This probably varies from chapter to chapter.

Yeah, it varies. I had 3 littles, two that were twins, and one that was a transfer in the spring semester and I adopted her. Twins had to be in the same pledge class. (No one ever took triplets except for one year when the soph. pledge class was tiny.)

My chapter did big-little in a cool way. For the "new member period" they had "sis-mom" (sister-mother) and the older members took "sis-dots" (sister-daughters.) Then, you got your permanent big usually shortly after initiation.

Anyone of any grade could be a sis-mom, but only the sophomores took littles.

MaggieXi · #20 07-23-2008, 04:55 PM

Most of us took littles as sophmores, and most only took one little. Occassionally if we had a large fall COB class or qouta was very high, some people took a second little. Even if they weren't in the same class, they would be considered twins.

I don't remember money ever coming into play when getting a little. It was more about how active you were in the chapter and that you were in good standing. Most of the gifts littles got were from the whole family (even alums!) that would pitch in together to welcome the newest member.

Benzgirl · #21 07-23-2008, 04:58 PM

My chapter was pretty big, so we never had twins. Some of the Sister-mothers (bigs) did take on 2 daughters, but it was the rule, not the exception.

BabyPiNK_FL · #22 07-23-2008, 05:00 PM

I agree, big and little is something that even if "banned" would pop up in some other form informally. If the big is a good big, it can really help integrate the new member into the chapter and can be a very positive influence.

I was blessed to have 5 little sisters, two sets of twins, senior and super senior semesters (must be from same pledge class on my campus) and one last minute blessing right before I graduated. I love them so much and couldn't imagine not having them or my big either! I also feel that it really helped me to stay involved with my chapter as well.

#23 07-23-2008, 05:00 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by kstar

Yeah, it varies. I had 3 littles, two that were twins, and one that was a transfer in the spring semester and I adopted her. Twins had to be in the same pledge class. (No one ever took triplets except for one year when the soph. pledge class was tiny.)

My chapter did big-little in a cool way. For the "new member period" they had "sis-mom" (sister-mother) and the older members took "sis-dots" (sister-daughters.) Then, you got your permanent big usually shortly after initiation.

Anyone of any grade could be a sis-mom, but only the sophomores took littles.

The sister-mom I got at the beginning of my Pledge period is the sister-mom I still have today. In my chapter, the sister-mom you get at NM ceremony is permanent.

AOII Angel · #24 07-23-2008, 05:04 PM

I had three lil sisters during my collegiate years. My first Lil dropped out after initiation because she had a hard time keeping up with AOII while maintaining her softball scholarship. My second Lil sis was going to them be my only Lil sis, and we are still very close today. I took a third Lil sis only because we went from a pledge class of 25 one year to 36 the next when recruitment numbers shot through the roof, so obviously we needed some extra people to take a new Lil sis. No one took two at one time....we also avoided that!

fantASTic · #25 07-23-2008, 05:55 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 33girl

In our terminology it was just 2 littles in general, who had the same big. This probably varies from chapter to chapter.

Same. I've never heard of anyone having two littles at once..

Except in our chapter, it's always twins, no matter how many of you there are. If you have five littles, each of them has four twins

kstar · #26 07-23-2008, 06:01 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by OTW

The sister-mom I got at the beginning of my Pledge period is the sister-mom I still have today. In my chapter, the sister-mom you get at NM ceremony is permanent.

It still is permanent, but it was more of an active relationship during the new member period. It just isn't as important in my chapter as big-little. Also, in my chapter people generally weren't as close to their sis-mom, who chose them, as they were to their big, since that relationship was mutually chosen.

Also, since we didn't allow people to take more than one sis-dot a year, there were always juniors and seniors that had to take them, so there were cases of sis-moms graduating half a semester after initiation. Having a soph. as a big ensured that they would still have an older sister who was active.

My sis-mom was a good sister, but wasn't as close as my big, however, one of my littles was one my sis-dots.

WinniBug · #27 07-23-2008, 06:17 PM

In our chapter, we have a "Momma Bug" - what the "Pearl Class" calls their VP of Membership Ed.
Then, each girl has a "Ruby Sis", who sponsors her through the Phoenix ritual, and is her temporary Big until the Big Sis revealing ceremony.

Sometimes, we have true twins...when one girl takes 2 littles at a time, but I try to discourage this. Quite often, a Big will take multiple Littles during different semesters.

What's y'all's opinion on the max. number of littles a member should take?

AXiDTrish · #28 07-23-2008, 06:41 PM

"Twins," at least with the chapters I've dealt with, is when a big sister gets more than one little sister throughout her tenure in the chapter. The little sisters call themselves twins (triplets) even if they did not get their Big at the same time. This is common with small or growing chapters as the sisters of a small chapter may have to take numerous lil's. Bigger chapters where there aren't enough NM's for the actives probably have only one lil sister.

KSUViolet06 · #29 07-23-2008, 07:02 PM

In my chapter, twins were 2 people who had the same Big Sister (whether they were in the same class or not). Triplets were 3 people with the same Big and so on.

Most people in my chapter had one or 2 Littles, but there were certain sisters that NMs tended to look up to who ended up taking more. I was one of 4 Littles.

VandalSquirrel · #30 07-23-2008, 07:10 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by OTW

The sister-mom I got at the beginning of my Pledge period is the sister-mom I still have today. In my chapter, the sister-mom you get at NM ceremony is permanent.

That's how it is done here as well, though there is another woman who is referred to as a Delta.