August 19 2019

This week I’ve have a had a few struggles as a dad mostly in the form of sibling rivalry. My son and daughter are young, 2 and 5 respectively. They get along 75% of the time. They often cuddle on the couch or hug each other before bed. My daughter is great about helping our son where she can (he’s a giant dolly after all).  Right now she’s doing her best to show him how to use the toilet and wash his hands. But every once in awhile there’s a fight over a toy, over a spot, a chair whatever.

Honestly…..

I have no idea how to sort this out. When the offense is obvious, i.e.she had a toy and he stole it away, its easy to navigate. When your in the kitchen and hear the commotion its less clear what happened and what to do about it.

 

What Ive tried…

Thus far Ive tried separating the offenders or removing the item being fought over. As a test just last Saturday I took it a step further and declared that neither was to share their toys or be in each others rooms. My daughter was ecstatic and feeling rather vindicated that her baby brother would no longer be allowed to touch her stuff. That was until she realized she wouldn’t be able to raid his book case or play with some of his things. So far, its Tuesday now, this has seemed to work. but does anyone have any suggestions for dealing with this calmly and fairly? Please feel free to comment below.

As always thanks for reading and Happy Dadding.