How do you keep meltdowns at a minimum in your house? Do you have any tips for dealing with sibling rivalry?
Sometimes I think they may actually like each other!
Wednesday, August 1, 2012
Keeping the Peace
Like any set of siblings, my girls have their moments where they play nicely together followed immediately by screams and tears. Praise the good Lord for one bit of wisdom that I found somewhere on the mighty internet many moons ago that has drastically decreased the amount of bickering in our home. On a calendar on the refrigerator (where all of our sanity saving documents can be found) we have the letters "A" and "J" alternating on every day of every month. Each of our girls take turns being the Leader of the Day. Big title that comes with lots of perks. The leader of the day in our house gets to choose all things first, unless of course they are over-ruled by Mom and Dad. This includes, but is not limited to dish color, seat at the table, car seat, movie, TV show, etc. It also means that she gets to do things first, such as say her prayers first before bed. Sometimes being the leader means that you have to be the brave one. At our first dentist appointment we had no eager volunteers. So the leader of the day was elected (by yours truly) to go first. I think the beauty of this technique is that nobody really gets terribly sad (whines or pitches a fit) when it's not their day because they know that tomorrow they get the coveted title and all that goes with it.
How do you keep meltdowns at a minimum in your house? Do you have any tips for dealing with sibling rivalry?
How do you keep meltdowns at a minimum in your house? Do you have any tips for dealing with sibling rivalry?
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Great idea!
ReplyDeleteI wish I had some advice to share, but my boys are only 19 months, and the rivalry has only just begun. Love the leader of the day idea, though. My twins club just had a great discussion thread on FB about the same topic recently. Keeping that in mind for the coming years for sure! Happy to be following via Multiples and More.
ReplyDeleteMine aren't twins but they are close in age :) I try to get them to serve one another. If one of them picks what they want first, they have to serve the other person their snack/toy/whatever. It works really well for them. Even when they don't pick I still have them take turns serving each other. Now with the new baby I call on them alternately to do things for her like throw out diapers, fetch items, sit with her on the floor, etc. They love it!
ReplyDeleteI love this idea! My sister and I had assigned days of the week for riding in the front seat, which is what I remember us fighting over the most. My girls are three, and are just getting into the bickering stage. I'm filing this idea away for future use!
ReplyDelete(I clicked over from a comment on MandyE's blog...nice to "meet" you!)