Wednesday, April 15, 2009

Nip Bickering in the Bud

We have implemented a new technique for dealing with sibling rivalry, and so far have experienced great success with it!

We hear the bickering, give it a minute to see if the kids can work it out, and if not we call the culprits to us. Then we instruct them to say things they love about the other person (anywhere from one thing to five, depending on how out-of-hand and unkind they were being). We have them take turns, and they cannot repeat what their sibling just said about them. Then they each need to say "I love you" in the most dramatic way possible (we've done opera style, robot style, with a giant fake smile, etc.).

Nine times out of ten, both parties are in fits of giggles by the end of this exercise. Away they go, topic of contention completely forgotten about.

For other WFMW tips, go visit We Are THAT Family.

4 comments:

  1. What a great tip, I am going to have to remember this once my kiddos really start talking.

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  2. LOVE IT! I'm going to try this one with my kids. Thanks for sharing!

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  3. This is an AWESOME TIP!!! I'm going to try it with my kids!

    (I'm so glad I found your blog! I'm adding you to my blogroll!)

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  4. This sounds a little like what my mom used to do; when two of us were fighting, she'd say in rapid-fire mode: "Hug! Now kiss! Hug! Kiss! Shake hands! Kiss!" and make us do it until we were giggling at how silly it all was.

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