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Adoption

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Siblings

4 replies

ac73 · 16/06/2020 16:12

Hey everyone. We are almost 4 years in with siblings. The rivalry between them is huge and our eldest (8) really struggles with very deep feelings of jealousy and inadequacy which, given their background, are totally understandable. I feel like we have made huge progress over the years but wondered if any of you had any ideas to help them both in this? We are under CAMH and getting support but you all are a wealth of ideas based on real life experiences. Thank you!

OP posts:
Jellycatspyjamas · 16/06/2020 23:12

Lots and lots of reassurance works here - my eldest needs a lot of positive reinforcement even when her behaviour is a challenge so we actively look for ways to praise her and to highlight her strengths. I make time for her 1:1, and really try to be scrupulously fair. I’ll think of things that help with that but yes, having siblings is tricky work to say the least.

caringcarer · 16/06/2020 23:59

I think everyone can be good at something. Find something each child can be good at and it builds their self esteem and the jealousy lessons. We found ds2 was jealous of siblings older and younger. His older sister was good academically and won a scholarship. Older brother good at sports. Ds2 tried do hard with sports but we kept signing him up to different things, Art, Drama, singing, cooking, IT and then guitar lessons. He is good at playing guitar and none of siblings can play guitar. Ds2 no longer jealous. All DC have their own areas of expertise.

fasparent · 17/06/2020 05:11

Have you asked school too allocate some of his pupil premium plus around £2300pa be used for IT, Music lessons and so on. See www.pac-uk.org or www.familyaction.org.uk explains how it can be used.

Jellycatspyjamas · 17/06/2020 09:31

I obviously don’t know their background, but I know for my two those feelings come from having to compete for love, basic care, food etc so any difference between them sparks of a real fight or flight survival thing - it comes from jealousy, yes but it’s much deeper and more fundamental than “she got something I didn’t”.

I manage by being scrupulously fair where I can be - I don’t buy one something without having something for the other except for birthdays. At birthdays or celebrations I really involve them other child in planning and preparation- my DD can now be as excited about her brothers birthday as she is about her own. We celebrate every achievement equally, whether it’s star pupil, a good report card or a good gymnastics performance.

We talk a lot about fairness and are really transparent about why we did x for this person or y for that one, and we are ok with them expressing disappointment if we get it wrong. If one needs more of me than the other, we’ll talk about how we care for others when they are hurt or poorly. My DD would hurt herself because she knew if she was injured a grown up would attend to her - she doesn’t do that now but sometimes will be a bit poorly first thing in the morning because that’s less risky in her mind than asking for an extra cuddle.

In terms of food they each have a snack box and start the day with the same snacks, they can swap items eg if they prefer one type of crisps up another and once they’ve eaten their snacks for the day they’re done. Totally cuts out the “she got more than me” type squabbles - which come from a place where they both still fear there won’t be enough to go round.

It’s very hard but getting underneath the presenting behaviour to understand what’s driving the feelings is key. You might know you love each of them, that there’s enough food, or enough toys etc but they might not.

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