Growing up in the 90's, I was exposed to such quality entertainment as Home Improvement. My brother and I couldn't get enough of it. We could sit there and watch Tim Allen's hilarious antics for hours. Throughout the years, Tim the ?tool man? Taylor was always building a hot rod in his garage, which probably sparked our interest in cars-- that, and our undying need to be in competition with each other. As soon as we got our licenses we fought over ?car rights? non stop, since we had to borrow our parents'. We worked hard and saved up enough to buy our own cars. I only had a few grand, but wanted something fast, so I bought a 93 Mustang 5.0 coupe. Sure enough, my brother bought a 1992 Mustang LX 5.0 Convertible; always trying to upstage me. He can have fun in the sun, but I'm going to be the one burning him every night at the drag strip. His flashy style has always gotten the best of him. He would rather roll up in a convertible with rims than have a rocket under the hood. A few weeks ago a pulled up next to another 5.0 Mustang and looked over at the driver. Our eyes met, knowing what would happen when the light flashed green. I revved my engine a few times and glanced over at him, only to find him laughing. Of course I wasn't too happy with this and mumbled some words under my breath. He responded by slowing revving up his engine, letting out a deep growl. The light turned green and I slammed on the gas, immediately taking the lead. He hesitated then took off down the road, blasting right by me. Man, I need a new exhaust. I started by checking some Mustang enthusiasts' websites and found a pretty heated discussion about mufflers. Apparently choosing a Magnaflow or Flowmaster muffler is like joining the bloods or the crypts. After reading a bunch of posts, some useful some not, I found that the people generally chose the Magnaflow for power and the Flowmaster for sound. Like I said, I'm interested in one thing?going fast.
Family sibling rivalry, or conflict between brothers and sisters, comes in all shapes and sizes and is often similar to conflict seen between adults in the form of loud arguments, the destruction of property or physical fighting. In some cases sibling rivalry does not require parental intervention and kids can be left to work things out for themselves. In other cases however parents do need to step in.
Once children pass the age of about three, although they may well engage in bad behavior because their lack of knowledge and experience has led them to make a poor choice, they will nonetheless have a fair sense of the distinction between right and wrong. Equally, children at this age also have a surprising sense of fairness and justice.
The secret when it comes to sibling rivalry is to know when to leave well alone and when to intervene and, when getting involved, to know how to guide children through their conflicts so that they understand not only that their behavior was inappropriate but also why their actions were wrong.
A good starting point is to consider the issues of safety, property and individual choice.
Clearly if a child's safety is at risk or property is under threat you need to intervene. Similarly if one child's action is interfering with another child's activity because his individual choice is being stifled, then again you need to step in.
Just as in society at large we set boundaries which should not be crossed, so children too need to learn that there are boundaries with respect to their brothers and sisters which must also be respected.
This said, as long as your children remain within these boundaries, then, more often than not, you should stay out of family sibling disagreements and let the kids sort things out for themselves. Indeed, children need space in which to express their thoughts and emotions and to learn by taking their own decisions and discovering the consequences of their actions.
It can often be difficult for parents to know just when to get involved in sibling rivalry and you can do more harm than good by either intervening too often or not often enough. However, in general, more parents will tend to leave the children to their own devices rather than get involved and one commonly heard phrase is "kids will be kids". While this is certainly true to a point, 'roughhousing' can quickly escalate and children can cross the barrier very quickly.
A great deal of sibling rivalry can be avoided if parents focus their attention on the root causes of conflict from an early age and remember that many of the tensions between children are similar to those which we are all familiar with between adults.
One final thing to remember is that part of our role as parents is to set an example for our children to follow. If children are able to see that even mom and dad have their disagreements but are able to deal with these in a fair and just way, and without resorting to heated argument or fighting, then this will provide the children with the best possible starting point for solving their own disagreements.
Both Tim Saunier & Parenting Advice are contributors for EditorialToday. The above articles have been edited for relevancy and timeliness. All write-ups, reviews, tips and guides published by EditorialToday.com and its partners or affiliates are for informational purposes only. They should not be used for any legal or any other type of advice. We do not endorse any author, contributor, writer or article posted by our team.
Tim Saunier has sinced written about articles on various topics from Trucks, Brakes and Debts Loans. I'm very happy with my . My brother still likes. Tim Saunier's top article generates over 9900 views. to your Favourites.
Parenting Advice has sinced written about articles on various topics from Parenting, Cars and Children. Parenting4Dummies.com provides information on everythng from to drawing up a. Parenting Advice's top article generates over 5400 views. to your Favourites.