Early one morning, my daughter began to be aggressive in her play with her younger brother. She was insisting that he play with her, and on her terms. He was doing his best to tell her no, but it wasn’t getting through. The situation was escalating, and quick.
What makes the difference between children’s generous moments and the not-so-generous ones?
By Ravid Aisenman Abrahmsohn I was reminded recently just how much children tell us when we listen – through good times and bad. One family in my Skill Building group has a five- year-old son and a four-month-old daughter. The
How can I help my child stop hitting his siblings?
I had to keep a very close watch on my son, and be able to move in fast to protect myself or my daughter when he decided to have a swipe! But as the time went on, these incidents were fewer, and he was laughing more, and including his sister more in the games we were playing. I could sense we were all feeling very close.
When the holidays roll around, stress levels often run high, and children can get into frequent tussles with friends, siblings, and parents. We all get stretched during busy periods and that means that connected relationships get strained more than usual.
I have thought a lot about what words I say to my two children when they are pushing boundaries and I need to set a limit. I have found the phrase, “I can’t let you do that” to be so
What parent hasn’t wished she could clone herself into an army of expert cuddlers, caregivers, lap holders, child carriers, diaper changers, housekeepers and taskmasters? How many times can we say, “There is only one of me”? We want to love, nurture and connect with our children, while at the same time supporting their healthy development, and also managing our responsibilities of putting the groceries away, cooking dinner, living in an organized house, maintaining relationships with the neighbors, driving the kids around… the list goes on. How can there ever be enough of us to go around?
Q. Do you have any tips on helping 2-year-old twins who tantrum at the same time and very, very often? Most of the time I’m the only one there to listen and it just doesn’t seem like it’s enough! A.
When we decide to bring a second child home, we long for those siblings to be good friends. Or we at least hope to avoid siblings fighting all the time so we can get some quiet moments to ourselves. But
We often think it’s our job as parents to teach our children the concept of sharing, to time turns, or give a toy to another child to stop a tantrum. This can be an exhausting task!
Q. “My son seems like he’s in the midst of a contest every moment. He needs to be first to get to the car, first to choose his seat, first to finish his dinner. He also needs to be best.
A pair of six year old girls, teasing each other in the car on the way home from school. Oh joy, that’s my idea of a fun drive home. “You’re mean.” “I don’t like you.” “Blah, blah, blah, blah.” “Mommy,
In “It’s Mine! All About Sharing,” we looked at the “I’ll be with you while you wait” policy that helps children when they find themselves in competition for toys or attention. Now, we’ll turn to the subject of how you
When children want something, their feelings are often passionate. They can be gripped by a desire so strong that no other option will do. Every cell in their bodies is organized to communicate that having the blue shovel or the green balloon is the key to their happiness—a yellow shovel or a red balloon simply won’t do. But as any parent who has tried to enforce sharing knows, taking turns at those moments is far easier said than done.
Our children’s squabbles restimulate lots of old feelings in us, so that it’s often hard for us to intervene without causing more hurt. We need listening time to help us work through our frustrations and our fears about their upsets they have. We need a chance to release the feelings that rise in us when the fighting starts.
Raising children in today’s fast-paced and adult-oriented society presents unique challenges, particularly when it comes to managing sibling relationships. While the joy of having more than one child is immense, it often comes with difficult feelings of rivalry and competition.
Everything went well until we got to the checkout line and he asked for gum. I said no and he began to have a full blown tantrum, I was completely overwhelmed with the baby, the groceries and him. So I bought the gum. All the way home, I kept saying to myself, “You are being controlled by a child! This can only get worse.”
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