Sound Familiar ?
“Mom, Dad, Jason punched me!”
“I did not! Patrick took my Game Boy, and I just put out my hand a little to get it back”
“Mom, Jason’s lying! I didn’t take his stupid Game Boy!”
“Dad, Patrick’s kicking me! Tell him to stop it!
Ow! Mom, Dad, Jason’s pulling my hair!”
Sibling quibbling is one of the most often complaints I hear from parents. Sibling rivalry has existed as long as we’ve had siblings. In Biblical times we head Cain and Abel, Joseph and his brother problems. In children’s literature we have Cinderella. It seems that “rivalry” naturally follows the word “sibling” despite the fact that there are many solid sibling relationships within families.
Conflict between siblings isn’t unique to humans either. it happens in just about every animal species that raises several young at the same time although human children don’t usually have to compete with each other for the basics of life – food, shelter, water. It seems human children are compelled to compete over other things.
Sibling bickering can take more joy out of parenting than probably any other aspect of child rearing. There are some tried and true approaches to managing sibling rivalry.