Tuesday, July 6, 2010

Sibling Rivalry

Back when we first had Owen we figured he was going to be our only miracle baby so we didn't worry about birth control. If we got pregnant....we got pregnant! When Owen was only 8 months old we did just that...got pregnant. We are so happy that our boys are close in age.

They love to do thing together. When one of them wakes up from a nap before the other one they always are asking where Bubba is. They don't really like being apart.



At the same time they love to drive each other crazy and in turn drive Mom and Dad crazy!



Lately our house has been overflowing with raised voices, counting to 3, time outs, spanks and crabby kids and parents. I think we are in the midst of terrible 3's for Owen and terrible 2's for Jack.


They just love to push each others buttons and they love to tattle on each other too. It really is getting on our nerves. I just want them to behave and enjoy each other! I'm sure my Mom is think....uh huh...right about now! I remember me and my brother bickering so bad when we were growing up...SO SORRY MOM!


I think part of it is we need to have more activities for the kids. They are fine when we are doing things, going places and being entertained. They get in the most trouble when they are just left to play with their toys and they start to get a little bored. At the same time I can't be their playmate all the time. They need to be bored in order to get creative.
If any of you out there have advise for how to deal with sibling rivalry I'm all ears. The part we are really struggling with right now is hitting. They seem to love to hit and no matter how many times we put them in time out and explain that it's not okay they don't seem to get it.

1 comments:

Melody said...

I am so right there with you! I wish I had some good ideas, but I'm still figuring it out too : )

They seem to do good when we are out and about and busy too, but if we do that every single day, I get WAAAAAAAY behind on laundry and such and the house starts to suffer! Plus it's really exhausting!!!

I'm struggling to find balance where the kids and I do fun stuff together, and they also learn to play nicely with each other as well.

Norah's big thing right now is screaming. And Elliott's big thing is making her scream. Oh boy, does that send me over the edge!!!!!

Sometimes they play so nicely together and sometimes they can't even be in the same room together. I have resorted to sending them to their room for extended time outs, when it gets super bad. Sometimes that works as a good reset for them, and they are a bit better when they are done. But sometimes it does nothing at all, and they go right on back to their room : )

Hang in there!!!