Father and Sons

I could have put a different title there like “Avoid Sibling Rivalry” but I thought, no one can avoid that… might as well at least lessen it.

Being a father of two boys, and not to mention the pretty tight age gap (2 years), it is inevitable that the soon-to-be two toddlers will be wanting to play the same toy at the same time or may want to watch two different channels at the same time.

Sibling Rivalry

I want my children to grow up as friends and be as close as possible… I am a strong believer that no matter how many close friends you have, the only true friend you’ll ever need is your brother/sister/sibling.

Qoutes Quoting a line from Baz Luhrmann’s “Everybody’s Free (To Wear Sunscreen)”

Be nice to your siblings; they are the best link to your past and the people most likely to stick with you in the future

Moving forward, here are some tips from Parentlineplus on how they think parents can do something on sibling rivalry:

by: Arlo Gilbert

1. Age Difference means that siblings will be at different stages of learning… Encourage older sibling to help the younger ones with an activity, to make older children feel more important… I would agree if this is applicable to me, but unfortunately it is not. I have a 4 year old niece and she and my Matt (who is 2 years old) always fight for something. You can have them do different activity ’cause what the other wants, the other wants too.
2. Don’ Rush to stop an argument. Children sorting out their differences themselves can be a valuable lesson for both of them. If they can’t sort the problem themselves, parents or grown ups can explain to both child the situation for them to understand what’s the possible comprise for the argument.
3. Praise them when they’re getting along. This one I do. Instead of noticing the negative behavior that children are doing, it’s better to praise them with the good thing they did.
4. Teach them how to cooperate. This will be so rewarding if properly explained to the children. Teaching them to cooperate or helping each other goes long way. Such example is taking turn in playing with a particular toy and then swapping.
5. Remind children to talk through problems.
6. Encourage them to think of others. Ask them how they think their brother is feeling and what they would want if they were in their position. I sometimes do this and say to Matt, “Poor Daddy, will be sad” or “wawa, Sean”.
7. Remain calm. It will remind them that it’s not such a big deal and will help them to listen to you.

These are the tips I learned to lessen the rivalry between brothers. For those parent who will stumble to this blog, if it’s not much trouble, how do you keep your home free from those clashing personality between siblings?

I don’t want them to compete with other (well, a friendly and in a good kind of way) but to work and help each other… one of could be a futures broker someday.
That would be a great help to new parents like myself.

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