We’re back this week with Part 2 in a series on sibling rivalry and kids fighting with parenting expert, Dr. Laura Markham!
Much of the common advice that we hear about sibling conflict, even from parenting gurus and experts, is advice like, “Just ignore it when they fight! It’s natural!”
While that approach is certainly easier for me as a mom than trying to figure out a proactive solution to helping my kids get along, it didn’t seem to work for my two strong willed kids, and it didn’t feel right in my heart either. Just ignore it when my kids are saying horrible things to each other or physically aggressive with each other?
Today on the podcast, Dr. Laura teaches us why we should not just ignore sibling rivalry and how we can coach children to respectfully resolve conflicts instead.
Kids Fighting
We can use three steps to be an interpreter during our children’s arguments, not a referee or a judge:
- Just state the problem without judgement, empathizing with both sides.
- If children are ready to talk, encourage them to express to each other what they need, without attacking.
- Guide the children through a brainstorming session to come up with possible solutions and see if they can find one that works for both people.
Don’t forget to listen to Part 1 of this series with Dr. Laura Markham: 3 Fail-Proof Ways to Reduce Sibling Rivalry in Your Home
Show Notes
- Dr. Laura Markham’s website: https://www.ahaparenting.com/
- Dr. Laura Markham’s book on sibling rivalry: Peaceful Parent, Happy Siblings: How to Stop the Fighting and Raise Friends for Life
Episodes You Might Also Like:
Episode 77: How to Coach Your Children through their Big Emotions
Episode 84: The 3 Cs to Transformative Discipline
Episode 37: Teaching Children to Work Without Being a Drill Sargeant
Have you recently experienced your kids fighting? What did you do? Was there anything from this episode that you think could be helpful in the future? Let me know in a comment below!
