In every family, the relationship between siblings is important but it’s sometimes taken for granted. Growing up, your siblings are your closest friends, setting a standard for your future relationships.
As a parent, it can be hard to watch your children fight or not get along, but this is normal—yet educational. Luckily, there are things you can do to promote better and stronger relationships between your children when they aren’t getting along.
Benefits of Sibling Relationships
Your child’s first friends are his brothers and/or sisters, so it is important to nurture their relationship with each other. You have many opportunities for this since they live under one roof—they can play games, study, talk and just have fun with each other’s company. Depending on the age gap between them, siblings also tend to be role models, which means that the older ones should act carefully to promote good behaviour among the younger sibs.
There is no perfect relationship between siblings—disagreements are to be expected. However, this provides a learning experience for the child as well and strengthens a relationship that can last a lifetime.
Parental Support
Parents can help promote better relationships between siblings, too. The first is to encourage your children to do nice things for each other. Of course fighting is natural, but you also want your children to be supportive of each other and specifically encouraging this in words is vital.
The most important thing to keep in mind and one that can be a challenge is to not give too much to any one child. Try to divide your time and attention as evenly as possible and make sure that each child knows they have a special place in the family.
Sibling Love
Even when you grow old, your siblings will remain your closest friends and they will always understand and be there for you. This kind of relationship is important to instill in your child or children to promote a special bond, which they can carry through their whole lives.
To learn more about how we promote this at each childcare centre near Perth, call the Bertram centre at +61 (08) 9419 1844, the Carlisle centre at +61 (08) 9472 4702 and the St James centre at +61 (08) 9358 4673.
