Sibling Rivalry – Tips for Big Brothers, Sisters AND Parents Too!

If you’ve got a younger brother or sister, you’ll know exactly what I’m talking about in this blog. Siblings tend to have more of a love-hate relationship, like I have with my little sister.

I might be watching my favourite TV show and all I can here is, “You always watch that… it’s my turn!”

Or I might be doing my homework and she’s making silly noises in my ear, “WEE WAA HEE HEE!”

Or I might be texting my friend and she’s reading each and every one of the messages out loud!

Do any of these things sound familiar to you? Well, keep reading. This blog might be just what you need!

Not Listening!

Many of our siblings don’t listen. My sister in particular purposely doesn’t listen! There’s a chocolate wrapper on the carpet and I ask her to pick it up, “I didn’t drop it! Leave me alone,” I think many of you have this problem.

The other day, she was making silly noises and I really didn’t need her making noise after a long, harrowing day at school. I simply asked her to stop and guess what? She just got louder!

These are the petty little things that just wind me up! To be honest, I easily get angry and my little sister knows that.

Here are a few tips on what to do when your sibling decides that they don’t want to listen…

• Don’t get angry – This just shows that they have got what they want; eventually they will have to stop. By controlling your anger, your sibling will learn to be patient too.

• Ignore – If you just imagine they are not there and get on with what you’re doing, it will prove to them that you do not care less about what they’re doing. They will soon give up because they didn’t manage to wind you up.

• Speak nicely, don’t shout – If it gets too much, don’t shout. You can either tell a parent or speak with a calm tone and tell them to stop. To be honest, this never works for me, but it’s worth a try.

Invading Our Privacy

“What are you doing…?” My little sister always has to know what I’m doing! I can never have any privacy! This irritates me a lot! Do you ever get it when you just want a bit of ‘me time’? I feel like that ALL the time!

A few days ago, I was on a video chat with my friend and the second I turn my head, what do I see? I see my little sister pulling funny faces behind me. No wonder my friend was laughing!

All I wanted was a few minutes of privacy in our room. Yet that isn’t possible because we share a room. I know that a lot of you have to cope with sharing a room with your sibling and at times it just gets too much – although it can be nice having a bit of company at bedtime.

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Here is some advice on what to do when you need a bit of privacy :

• Remember that it’s not just your room – You probably aren’t the only one that wants a bit of privacy! You should work it out between you and your sibling. If you want a bit of privacy make sure that your brother or sister understands that and make sure you understand that too.

You should both respect that whether you share a room or not you should both give each other a bit of space. Your sibling loves you and secretly can’t get enough of you; this is probably why they are always lingering around.

• Again, don’t shout – Although it can get annoying sometimes, you still need to stay patient. Simply ask them if you can have a few minutes alone. If they don’t listen, still make sure you don’t raise your voice. It can be very hard at times but try your best.

Name Calling

“Poo pants!” – My little sister is always calling me names and a lot of the time they aren’t even good insults! Sometimes they can be funny, but sometimes it can get annoying. There are so many of them!  “Clumsy!” “Stupid!” They don’t offend me at all, but they do annoy me!

Do your siblings do this too? If so, here are a couple of tips on what to do!

• Enjoy It – If you can’t beat them, join them! Make it fun. Call them names too! Laugh about it. Eventually it won’t be funny anymore and you’ll both soon find that you are talking about something completely new.

• Stay Calm – As much as you might hate it, don’t get angry! Through experience, I’m telling you if you get angry they do it more! They will soon run out of things to say, so they will have to stop!

To maintain a good relationship with your younger brother or sister, remember to spend quality time together, you are a pretty important person as your younger sibling looks up to you as a role model.

This one’s for parents!

Do you ever have it when you tell a parent what’s going on and they ignore you or agree with the younger sibling?

It’s annoying, right?! When my little sister calls me names or totally ignores me, I tell my mum or dad when it gets too much. But, sometimes they try to lighten the mood but this only encourages my sister to do it even more!

Here are a few things you parents should remember:

• Although they are younger, all your children are as special as each other! – Just because one of us is younger, cuter and shorter that doesn’t mean you can treat them differently. Be fair! If the younger one does something wrong, you should still discipline them, just as you would discipline the older one.

• Give 1 to 1 time –  Don’t give all your time to one sibling. This will make the other one feel left out. Maybe create a timetable, alternate it between both the parents. The mum may bake with the oldest on Monday and another day she bakes with the youngest, or the dad reads with the youngest today and tomorrow he reads with the oldest.

• Lots of Praise and Reward – It’s really important to praise and reward ALL your children, not just the youngest! It doesn’t matter how old we are, we like to hear our parents tell us how proud they are of us and a few treats, sweets and days out are really lovely too.

I have just touched upon some of the things that can come between two siblings, this blog would be too long to type if I included everything, and I’m sure if you’re a big brother or sister, you can relate to this.

If you think I’ve left out anything that’s really important to you, why not comment below and share with us.