Sibling rivalry

My daughter stood in front of me crying her eyes out again. I had done everything in the book from petting, promises, snacks to threatening. Yet her brother won't let her be so I got vexed and spanked him.

Guess what?

Madam Princess turned on me. She started fighting me for touching her brother. They both came after me. 

So much for defending the crying Princess right?

My kids share a very close bond because we brought them up that way. Such that even when they have conflicts, it never leads to the point where one seeks to hurt the other.

My parents brought up my siblings and I in the same fashion. They let us sort ourselves out as kids, not always quick to interfer in our relationship as kids or bad mouth one or turn us against each other. This gave room for a very healthy relationship amongst us.

We parents are saddled with the responsibility of helping our kids build such beautiful relationships.

What greater joy would we have?

A loving relationship as young siblings would metamorphosize into a healthy and loving relationship between them as adults. You'd find them standing up for each other, looking out for each other and even when occasions of misunderstanding arises they'd find a way to get past it.

The inability of parents to do this has caused many siblings their relationship. Some don't generally talk to each other, others are bitter and envious of each other, some are into crazy rivalry, some others just completely shut their siblings off.

As parents let's aid our kids by letting them solve their issues, not always intervening in their fights, give fair judgement whenever the kids call on us and most of all, teach them by leading through our examples of how they should be.

Today, there's little or nothing my siblings and I hide from each other, I can confidently call them whenever I have any issues and I'm very sure they got me and vice versa.

Now I have my kids and I'm deliberately building them up to have an even stronger bond.