The great thing about having two kids is that they each have a built in friend. Someone who is always there. Someone else who will always love them unconditionally. Someone they can be close to for the rest of their lives.
A not-so-great thing about having two kids is that they each have another person they can argue with every day. Or every night. Or anytime, really.
Contrary to what you see parents posting on social media, it isn’t all smiles and fun days. No matter how much your kids love each other, there will be times when siblings argue, bicker, or fight.
How To Stop Siblings From Fighting
Here are a few strategies that will help you minimize the fights in your home and teach your kids a few important lessons along the way.
1. Be Calm
If you have two yelling, screaming kids, the first step is to model acceptable behavior and reactions through your responses. Keep your voice down, and calmly ask them to explain what happened.
2. Teach Kids To Use Their Words
This can be harder when your kids are little, but learning how to express feelings with words is a valuable skill that they will use for the rest of their lives. Let each child explain what happened and how they are feeling, and then let them offer up solutions.
3. Use Positive Reinforcement
When you see your kids being kind, helping each other, working out problems together, make sure to call out their good behavior and praise them.
4. Treat Everyone The Same
Kids are very keyed into what is and isn’t fair. Apply consequences for squabbles equally for both kids. They will soon learn that no one wins when they fight.
5. Watch For Patterns
If you notice that your kids are most likely to get into fights at a specific time of day or during a specific activity, there might be a simple routine change that could help. You might need to change snack or nap times, or it could be a good idea to set a rule that they can’t play with a certain toy or watch a certain show later in the day when they are tired and more prone to irritability.
7. Focus On The Good And Be Thankful
Take a few minutes during breakfast or dinner for everyone to say something about each member of the family that they love or are thankful for.
8. Don’t Be Afraid To Call A BIG Time Out
It’s okay to give your kids a hug, tell them you love them, and send them off to bed a little early if you have all had a rough day. You can then sit down with a good book, a glass of wine, or a favorite tv show to help you relax. Sometimes moms need time out just as much as kids do. Tomorrow will be a fresh start for all of you.
Tracie
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