Alphabetic Guide to Child Care - Brothers and sisters

Brothers and Sisters

Rivalry and jealousy and bickering are inevitable among brothers and sisters; companionship, a helping hand, and good times together are part of the picture too. Parents can keep resentments and quarrels at a minimum by not playing one child off against the other or by refraining from holding up one child as an example of virtue to another. In an atmosphere of equal recognition, brothers and sisters will love and respect each other most of the time and fight only occasionally. Special privileges granted on the basis of such distinctions as “Well, he's the oldest” or “She's the youngest” or exceptions made because “He's a boy” or “She's only a girl” can cause resentments that last a lifetime.