Spotted

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During our recent trip to the rink, I spotted the bigger sister many times giving her younger brother a hand. This is one of the few times that I hope to see more than when one of them cries because the other is being annoying. For these two, it isn’t much of a problem, they enjoy each other’s company (I can’t say the same for my middle child).  From my own experience and those of my kids, I’d say sibling rivalry is quite a difficult thing to handle. The sibling bond is often complicated and is influenced by factors such as parental treatment, birth order, personality, and people and experiences outside the family.

A good advice goes “Parents can reduce the opportunity for rivalry by refusing to compare or typecast their children, teaching the children positive ways to get attention from each other and from the parent, planning fun family activities together, and making sure each child has enough time and space of their own. They can also give each child individual attention, encourage teamwork, refuse to hold up one child as a role model for the others, and avoid favoritism.” — Who said parenthood would be easy?