Help with Sibling Rivalry

The way I see it, the fighting is surely annoying for you but it does have great benefits for your kids. They are learning how to disagree with others and resolve these disagreements on their own. As long as they aren't being hurtful to each other physically or emotionally, you need to let them work it out. They are developing very important interpersonal skills that will serve them well throughout their lives. I didn't have a sibling to fight with as a kid, and it shows now that I am an adult.

I totally feel your pain. We have an interesting family. 2 kids are mine, 2 are my husbands and we have 1 together. My husband has a son that is 7 and I have a daughter that is 7. When they were 2, everything was perfect. But when they starting to hit 4 and 5, downhill from there. I thought I would go crazy and didn't know what to do. The best advice I can say is when you can, ignore it. Note, if you can. Positive side, now at the age of 7, they are best friends again :) Hang in there, it will pass.

Do you have an Ipod or MP3 player? Seriously. If they handle most things on their own and know to come to you when they really need to, tune them out, literally.

I have a 10 and 12 year old and they still fight with each other. It's just a part of life. I try to ignore it as much as possible but it does get intense sometimes. At this age I try to separate them and give them something else to do (chores - but it doesn't work all the time!) If it gets really bad then they get things taken away from them like the computer, video games and TV time. Good luck! And try to relax a little. It's normal!

My two are 18 months apart and yes, they fight like crazy sometimes. For the most part I let them handle it, but then I tend to get one or the other "tattling" on each other. Often I will tell them if they can't play nicely together and not fight then they will either both go into time out or they will both go to their rooms and not be allowed to play with each other. That usually works well for us, because they would much rather play together than apart.

Lock them up in their room and throw away the key.....then put your ipod on and enjoy the rest of your day :)