I remember hearing about sibling rivalry for years before I became a parent. My brother and I were so far apart in age that I had no personal experience of it myself. My friend, a new mom with only one child, could not believe it when I told her that my two children, two years apart, received identical toys from Grandpa and within twenty minutes were fighting over these toys. She just shook her head. Somehow my daughter and son, without my writing their names on the toys, had secretly branded each and were fighting because she had his and he had hers. Then they took turns wanting to have them both and fought about that. I took the toys away, wrote their names on them, and brought them out another day with great fanfare and explained that if there was any fighting, the toys would be taken away again. There was not much improvement and the toys were taken again. The third day went better....they maintained harmony for fifteen minutes before the toys were taken away. By the fourth day the toys had lost their newness and attractiveness and were no longer objects of adoration and dispute. I think sibling rivalry is one of the hardest aspects of parenting for new mothers or new fathers to embrace. It stays challenging for quite a while, too!
Has this happened to you? Weren't you amazed at it? Please leave a comment here at Mommy's Joy and tell us about it.
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