5 Ways to Stop Sibling Rivalry

 

Felix and his sister cannot get along. She stole his toy while he was playing with it, and now he is really mad at her. Because he is so mad, he does not want to be around her. Felix admits that he misses playing with his sister though and wishes he could play with her again.

Sibling rivalry is normal but too much confrontation can be unhealthy for both kids. Being able to relate and understand their siblings allows them to have a much better relationship with them as a whole. Here are some ways to help your kids get past sibling rivalry:

1. Make sure each child knows that they are important. When dealing with more than one child, it’s often a problem for one child to feel like they aren’t as important as their sibling. As parents, we need to show that each one of our children are just as important as the other. Avoid any signs of favoritism, because children do pick up on these small and “insignificant-to-us” signs.

2. Make sure each child knows and understands what their privileges are. Children are more likely to consider privileges more fair if they if the privileges are more consistent and concrete. For example, one child may get to stay up later than the other because they are older. The younger child needs to understand this reasoning.

3. Encourage your child to explore their strengths in more detail. Parents try to reduce competition between siblings by focusing on different abilities for each child. However, this often limits the child’s ability to explore other strengths that they may have. For example, there does not have to be just one child involved in sports and another in music. Instead, provide equal encouragement opportunities and resources for each of your children.

4. Encourage your child to view the family as a team. Encourage siblings to cheer for one another on each others successes and to sympathize with each other on their failures. One child’s accomplishments should be seen as enhancing them personally rather than degrading the other siblings personally.

5. Encourage teamwork. Create circumstances where siblings can accomplish goals together. This allows them to listen to each other and learn from one another; therefore, creating respectful feelings towards each other.

Felix and his sister fee much better now that their parents encourage them to make up and building a sand castle together. They were able to make a bigger sand castle because they make a great team.

Felix Has Feelings is a website devoted to teaching kids about their emotions and how to control them. Like anger, jealousy, sadness, joy, curiosity, loneliness, excited, and being scared. Please visit http://www.felixhasfeelings.com/ to learn more.

Kids Happy Apps is a place where parents can learn about happiness for their kids though the latest research in Positive Psychology. They even develop apps to promote happiness and wellbeing in children.

Would you like to know the 3 Secret Ideas to Raising Happy Kids. Click here to find out more.