Man I wish I knew. My boys are 18 and 10. You would think with such a large age gap that the fighting wouldn't be as bad. NOPE. They incessantly pick at each other and know exactly what buttons to push to set the other off. My youngest is a drama queen and uses it to his advantage as often as he can, making situations seem worse than they are. The only thing that helps is me going full on Mommy Dearest on them (minus the physical aspect) and losing my everloving mind until they stop. Which isn't the best approach, admittedly.
Man I wish I knew. My boys are 18 and 10. You would think with such a large age gap that the fighting wouldn't be as bad. NOPE. They incessantly pick at each other and know exactly what buttons to push to set the other off. My youngest is a drama queen and uses it to his advantage as often as he can, making situations seem worse than they are. The only thing that helps is me going full on Mommy Dearest on them (minus the physical aspect) and losing my everloving mind until they stop. Which isn't the best approach, admittedly.
Nope. My sister and I are 5 years apart and I vowed to have my kids closer in age because we fought so much. So far, I actually think it has worked out for me. As much as they bicker, they get along way better than my sister and I ever did. But I'm sure it's just total luck of the draw. Kids, man.
I can't tell if this thread makes me feel better because I'm not alone, or worse because there seem to be no solutions.
Siblings Without Rivalry doesn't work if your kids are sarcastic mofos who "role play" using annoying, exaggerated voices to act out their "part." Ask me how I know. We separate them a lot. And, although this makes me feel like the House Democrats presenting an airtight case to Senate Republicans who refuse to listen, I remind them repeatedly what behavior is not okay and why.
Wow. You nailed it. I 100% feel like I’m trying to reason with a republican, right down to the baseless arguments and reliance on facts that she pulls straight from her ass.
Ok for real, this thread ended up making me feel better because it was a good reminder that pretty much all kids are dumb and out to ruin their parents' lives.
Ok for real, this thread ended up making me feel better because it was a good reminder that pretty much all kids are dumb and out to ruin their parents' lives.
This thread is scaring me and making me wish my kids will stay 3 years and 5 months forever. And when you wish for your 3 year old to stay 3 you know it's bad. LOL
Ok for real, this thread ended up making me feel better because it was a good reminder that pretty much all kids are dumb and out to ruin their parents' lives.
This thread is scaring me and making me wish my kids will stay 3 years and 5 months forever. And when you wish for your 3 year old to stay 3 you know it's bad. LOL
Ha ha yep, that is bad! For real though, I recall enjoying age 4 and 5 relative to the horrors of 3 and now 6 and 8!
My dad always yelled, "GET SEPARATED," and my mom would send each of us on a different walking path around our neighborhood, ....
This brought me back. We each had our own tree in the back yard and when she couldn’t stand us anymore she sent us to our trees. Wewould literally bring a book up with us and stay there for the rest of the day (probably only 20 minutes but I remember it as days at a time). But separating does work. She was also a champ at not getting sucked into the disputes, which was probably more to the point. Also for the op, if you haven’t read Parenting With Love & Logic I recall that one helping at that age with my own kids.
ETA It’s probably too late for OP but when my kids were very little I explained to them inVery serious tones that the bathroom door was soundproof and it did no good to yell to me if I was in there because I couldn’t hear them anyway and my bathroom became my refuge. They are both successful, smart adults now but I’m embarrassed at how long it took them to figure this out.