How to settle sibling rivalry
“Right at the root of sibling rivalry is a natural survival struggle. It’s how we first practise fighting, which between siblings is, on the whole, a safe place to do that, to find out what it’s like.”
Rather than catastrophising sibling rowing, note what can be learned from it when it’s dealt with appropriately,” says McAuslan. “Children can learn to negotiate power struggles, find better solutions, learn to say sorry and learn to forgive and forget.” Parents, finding themselves in a sibling war zone, should first of all to do nothing at all (if nobody’s in imminent danger of physical harm). Parental approach should be twofold — teach children proper behaviour (‘it’s not ok to punch your sister’). And help them to talk about what has annoyed them enough to punch their sister.
