Healthy Ways to Deal With Sibling Rivalry



When raising a family, there are bound to be a spat or two between siblings. It’s easy to get stressed in this situation, but how you approach sibling rivalry as a parent is very crucial. When handled correctly, you can help mend their bond as siblings and ensure rivalries down the road are far less likely to happen:

Highlight Their Individuality 

To make sure a fight between your children doesn’t happen in the first place or to help limit the quarrels they get into, it’s crucial as a parent to highlight their individuality. Help your child find their role and individuality in the family by letting them explore and discover their gifts. Their gifts should be used as an enjoyable way to serve the whole family. By celebrating each of their unique values to the family, they’re able to have more self-awareness and will be able to give the same praise they are given to their siblings.

Have a United Vision

Your family needs to come together and talk about what you all want to be known for. This is an excellent topic for the dinner table to discuss what everyone values most about the family. Start off with a broad theme, then slowly narrow it down to themes such as happiness, faith, love, patience, or whatever your family feels represents them. When your family has a core value, you become much more united. During a sibling rivalry, remind them of the core value of your family and what keeps everyone united as a team.

Give Them Problem-Solving Tools

When a fight between your children happens, it’s important to use the present conflict as an opportunity to give them the problem-solving tools they need for solving future problems. Show them new ways they can compromise, share, or approach a similar situation later on more positively and appropriately. An example may be to teach them “when you say… it makes me feel …” eg: “when you say ‘you’re an idiot’, it makes me feel sad and stupid”. By giving them problem-solving tools, they’ll be able to handle any future spats with one another without the help or mediation of a parent.

Listen and Be Respectful

When your children are fighting, getting frustrated, and are extremely emotional, you must listen to them and respect their feelings. Keep in mind that their emotions are no excuse for negative or aggressive behaviour, but when a child finally feels they are heard, then they are more likely to cooperate peacefully. When it comes to your child hitting during a fight with their sibling, it’s imperative to reiterate that violence is very disrespectful, unacceptable under any circumstance, and remind them that using their words is the only way to resolve the issue. 

It’s worth persisting, sometimes your child’s frustration and outbursts are entirely inappropriate, but they may be expressing underlying struggles in really inappropriate ways. If you take the time to persist, to continue to be with them and listen to them, you have the opportunity to get to the core of the emotion they are struggling with. This, in fact, is an opportunity that you may not have had unless they had had an outburst. In every situation, there is an opportunity.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Art of Saying No to Your Child

Image
  When a parent tells their child they can’t do something it’s because they have a reason behind it. Whether you tell them they can’t go to the park to play or hang out with a friend after school, the word ‘no’ has to be said every once in a while (and sometimes quite often, depending on the personality of your child).  If you don’t set boundaries with your child from a young age, they will grow up and assume they don’t have to ask for permission once a teenager. Some ways of saying no are more effective than others and can help you show your children that you care for them. Here are some ways you can say no to your child and show that you mean it. Give a Definite Answer It’s normal for children to get upset when they ask for something and receive a “We’ll see…” or “It depends…” as the answer. If you want to say no, then just say it clearly. To show them that you’re serious, be sure to say it in a firm, yet caring tone. There could be times when your answer is ‘maybe’ because of other
Read more

Great Stretches for Cyclists

Image
For a cyclist to be at the top of their game, their body needs to be in tip-top shape. Many beginners and some experienced riders tend to forget is is the benefits of stretching before and after a bike ride. Because  cycling is a repetitive motion exercise , stretching helps limber up the body, ease soreness, and prevent injury. Check out these great stretches for cyclists: Thoracic Mobility Stretch After hunching over handlebars while on your ride, you can cause severe tension in your mid-back. A great way to ease this soreness is through the  thoracic mobility stretch . To do a thoracic mobility stretch, simply kneel in front of a stable surface like a table or chair on both of your knees. Then you’ll want to place your hands in together, bring both arms up so your elbows are parallel to ears, and finally bend over at the waist and place elbows on the surface. It’s essential to keep your arms bent at a 90-degree angle while your neck is in a neutral position. Once you drop the chest
Read more