Tips to Help Siblings Get Along By Don MacMannis l Parenting Tips l Parenting Advice

Studies suggest that relationships between brothers and sisters are more influential than anyone ever imagined. How we get along with sibs can be as important as how we’ve been parented. This relationship is like the laboratory of how we learn the skills of relating. It’s the template that we carry with us forever.

Do any of these examples sound familiar?

- A five-year-old melts down telling his parents to return his baby brother to the hospital. For good.

- A mom complains that she can’t leave her kids alone in a room for fear that they could hurt each other.

- A dad realizes that he’s withdrawn from the family because the constant bickering is driving him crazy.

There’s hardly anything more upsetting to parents than seeing their own child hurt by another. Although sibling rivalry happens in the healthiest of families, the amount of tension is what’s important. Too much conflict can affect self-esteem, friendships, family and parental harmony and even future marriages. Here are some tips to minimize it:

Don MacMannis, Ph.D. is a psychologist who has treated children and families for the past forty years. Award-winning PBS songwriter, he wrote and produced a series of research-based songs and activities for social and emotional learning at http://kidseps.com/ Free family assessments can be found at http://howsyourfamily.com/