Obviously, this isn’t the dynamic we envisioned or wanted when we had more than one child. When our more reactive, less helpful responses are knee-jerk and repetitive, they can create insecurity, cause siblings to identify as “bad” or “inept”, and even instill lifelong resentments toward one another. Or, alternatively, they can fuel and intensify it. The choices we make when dealing with situations of conflict between siblings can calm fears, build confidence, and help to ease sibling rivalry. In that exasperating moment when our toddler or preschooler is acting aggressively toward the baby, or when our child (of any age) is picking on a younger sibling, it is certainly challenging to temper our emotions and understand. It is natural for the older child to want to control, dominate, and take out frustration on this person that rocked their world. I commented: The question for me: why wouldn’t they? The younger child ripped the older one’s life apart. Sometimes you can’t get through the chapter and yet you’ll find you’ll still be able to participate in the conversation.A parent recently posed this question in a Facebook discussion group: Why do older siblings sometimes hurt younger ones? Take toys from them? I don’t really understand… Our discussions happen on GoodReads, so don’t hesitate to join in the conversation. The topics for these chapters will be on:Ĭhapter 13: Putting the “No-Lose” Method to WorkĬhapter 14: How to Avoid Being Fired as a ParentĬhapter 15: How Parents Can Prevent Conflicts by Modifying ThemselvesĬhapter 16: The Other Parents of Your Children The topics for these chapters will be:įor Parent Effectiveness Training, we will be finishing the book.

For the older children genre, we will be finishing up reading Parent Effectiveness Training by Thomas Gordon.įor Siblings Without Rivalry, we will be reading chapters 3-6 in December. We are continuing to read Siblings Without Rivalry by Adele Faber and Elaine Mazlish for the general audience.

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Siblings without rivalry book