Help! Sibling Issuses ... sort of....

[Tinkerbelle's Mom]

Help!

I am a mom to one dd. I only have one and have never had to deal with any type of sibling issues. The worst I have had is to remind dd when she has a playdate that she cannot always go first or always win. Not a problem she gets that she has to be nice to her friends.

But.... my cousin has a son who is 12. DD is 7. They hardly get along. DD and I live with family in a large home and this cousin is with us every other week. They are so competitive! They bicker over everything and just when I have had it and am ready to seperate them - they start getting along. There have been times where they can play all day and all I ever see of them is when it time for dinner.

Recently everything seems to be an argument. The boy likes to button push my dd. My dd has learned to button push right back.

How do parents with multiple kids handle this? The boys mom is not around much so I am normally alone with the two of them. I try to be fair but frankly I am getting sick of both of thier behavior.

Any suggestions?

 

[pepperw23]

It sounds to me like your DD has it under control.

I have two a DS 20 and a DD 17, I have seen my share of button pushing, that is for sure. In addition to my own two I have a 20 yo nephew (10 days apart) a 17 yo niece (2 days apart) that spent a lot of time in our house growing up. Unless it got physical (not once lol) I stayed out of it completely. I would occasional pop in and tell them to "fuss" quietly, but otherwise I stayed out of it. It is hard not to jump in, but sometimes they are just trying to compete for adult attention. If they "tattle" on each other I just stay objective, ask a few questions and see if we can all reach a compromise... Good luck to ya.

 

[Alex2kMommy]

Recently everything seems to be an argument. The boy likes to button push my dd. My dd has learned to button push right back.

How do parents with multiple kids handle this? The boys mom is not around much so I am normally alone with the two of them. I try to be fair but frankly I am getting sick of both of thier behavior.

Any suggestions?

I sympathize, but I don't know if I can help; it sounds pretty much like my two boys operate. Sometimes they get along surprisingly well, and other times can't go two minutes without something going wrong. When it gets really bad I send them to separate areas of the house... They always sneak to the same spot and play quietly after that.

 

[Tinkerbelle's Mom]

Well, at least I know I am not going crazy! Normally my dd gets along with everyone. Until these two started to live together they were the best of buds... now it changes from moment to moment.

 

[The Mystery Machine]

My dd's are 12 and 17. I feel your pain. You just kind of play it by ear and figure out how to manage it well.

Oh and get out if you can and do some things away from the house if possible.

 

[CanadianPaco]

My DD is an only child too and is 10. She has a boy cousin who is 7 and they are like oil and water. The only thing that works is separate play until they both want to play together. Once one gets the other wound, them separate then again. UGH!