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Cinderella loves her Little People toys. We decided that this year, we would invest in a Little People Nativity, to have out with our Christmas stuff. Part of this nativity is a stable that has a spot for an Angel to sit on top. Then you push down on the Angel and it plays "Away in a Manger". Guy loves to hear it play.
So picture this if you will. Cinderella is sitting on the floor. She has her "special" People (what we call the nativity Little People), all organized the way she wants it and is playing. Guy sees her playing and wants to play too. So here he comes crawling over, right through the Wise Men, and animals, knocking them all over, continues crawling, picks up a donkey, and sits down, right in Cinderella's lap. Then he turns to the stable. He pulls himself up on it, pushes down on the Angel, turning the stable over in the process. So do you think Cinderella is as happy as can be that her brother wants to play with her? No! She yells, "Guy, my people!" Or "Guy, play with something else!" or "I don't like you, Guy!" Does she like him, yes, just not what he is doing at the moment.
Guy loves his sister. He wants to do whatever she is doing. The problem: She doesn't always want him to play with her. So she has developed those lovely sibling qualities. Yelling, hitting, kicking, pushing, etc. You get the picture. So my question is: how do I deal with it?
So I want some feedback. How do you deal with sibling love? Or lack thereof? Lately I've been taking away a toy that is being fought over. Well, that is, after time out didn't work.
It isn't fair to expect Cinderella to always have to play with Guy, when she wants to play by herself. But it also shouldn't be expected that Guy never play with Cinderella, just because she doesn't want him wrecking her setup. Anyway I'll accept any suggestions. Let me know.
3 comments:
This happens with my two little children sometimes! However... my daughter is old enough that I can sometimes tell her to go play with something else. I usually alternate between encouraging them to share or encouraging one of the parties to find something different to play with... depending on the situation. Your son is probably too young to understand the meaning of sharing or letting people have their space... sometimes you can encourage your daughter to share with him... but you're right... that's probably not the solution all the time.
check out the book Siblings Without Rivalry. In fact, I should read it again, too. Also, I'm reading The Happiest Toddler on the Block right now, and that seems to have some good points as well. Not that I've really gotten into parenting books, but sometimes, I'm at my wit's end, and need some solutions!
Speaking of Siblings Without Rivalry... they'll actually be starting an online course at Everett Community College in January or February based on this book! It think it's $79.00 tuition, and there are two books that you have to buy that are $12.95 each...
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