Dealing with Sibling Rivalry Between 4 Children

The great parenting challenge: Dealing with sibling rivalry between 4 children

Have four kids means that at any moment another fight can break out at any moment. In my house we have had some fights between the kids that were worthy of being shown live on pay per view. The day after Halloween, my daughter was mad at my son. My son had left out the armor to his ninja costume and she decided to get him back by cutting up his costume. I asked her why she was so mad at him and she said "He got better candy than I did." She was having a candy induced melt down and took her jealousy out in a very bad way.

Two of my girls are very close in age (16 months apart) and the rivalry between them at times gets intense. They will get in a argument over something small and it can turn into a hair pulling fight in no time. Within 10 minutes of a horrible "I hate you" fight they will be best friends again and planning their next adventure.

For little disagreements between ths kids, I try my best to let them work out on their own. Larger disagreements I do step in. Sibling rivalry in our house is usually the result of someone being overly tired or a case of simple jealousy. My 4 year old often gets jealous because her 6 year old sister can color betterthan her she thinks. I try my best to explain she is not better, she is just a little older. Sibling rivalry is what makes parenting so challenging at times and motherhood so interesting. There truly never is a dull moment in out house.