Family is where your heart is

Not all houses can become homes as the home is a place filled with care & affection. Family is where love is. Every human deserves to own a family. Although work is worship, family is where love dwells. Without a family, there is no purpose for being mankind. Family is such a blessing for every individual out there. The reason for living ultimately is our near & dear souls.

Parents & Siblings

When Parents are the ones who give us life, siblings are whom we grow along with. They are like our blood and skin. Until young, we can’t differentiate our siblings and parents. Both are like two eyes for us. When parents nurture and take care of us, siblings are the ones who share most of the playtime right from home. Be it sharing a toy, visiting a grandparent’s house, or playing with cousins. They hold a crucial role in our lives undeniably.

Quarrelsome love

Not all the time the situation may be the same. Every sibling relationship might have ended up in a fight or an argument from time to time. Fighting is necessary in any relationship to make the bond much stronger and to understand the person much better. How “After a Storm comes calm”, is to sibling love. Post-battle scenarios are always much cuter to watch over. Cold wars are often included in such fights. When the bonding between siblings is made stronger by laying a perfect foundation in their childhood, I guarantee they stand for one another in times of need definitely. Let us crack a few tips and tricks to make the process easier for the parents while building a sibling relationship.

Speak, speak & speak

During the first initial years after the arrival of the younger one, lots of problem arises with the behavior and attitude of the elder child. This is because most of the time they cannot understand what is happening suddenly when a new person enters the family. Until then, all the love and care of his/her parents was only on the first child. The elder one cannot bear the attention and love suddenly being shared. To overcome this, as parents we need to speak to the elder child when the younger one is already in the mom’s tummy. 

Keep repeating about the arrival of a new baby and how it will make things change. Make the child speak to the fetus in the mom’s womb by placing his/her hands in the mom’s tummy. After the arrival of the baby, studies say that the elder child might get arrogant over the younger one. They also show emotional disturbance & lag in concentration. Problems arise from sharing their things like beds, toys, and many similar things. But then, as parents, we need to speak to them a lot about the arrival of new members. And thereafter, the baby will be them forever. Also, address the fact that we have brought the new baby as a companion/ friend to the elder one. So, let us break the barriers by conversing.

Allow lots of personal space

Give space for your little ones in the house. Children are not always needed by the parents around them. When they are left with their siblings around, there is a lot of guidance, independence, and mutual understanding taking place. As parents, we must trust them and provide their personal space. We could observe the elder one turning into a much more responsible person in taking care of their sister/brother. It is really overwhelming for the parents to watch when good bonding happens between them.

Assign a chore

Once in a while allocate a task to each of the siblings. Let the task be common. But split their roles and responsibilities. For example, consider cleaning the mess after playtime. Allot the elder one to pick up small toys and clean the dirt. And let the younger one replace the large toys and arrange a bookshelf. That way each will help and be supportive of one another. We can also observe lots of love happening when one gets hurt by an accident.

Let study time be the same

When comes to study time, make sure to sit with both children and make them do their respective work. When this becomes a practice, slowly allow the elder one to guide the younger one in his/her school home works, tasks, and activities. This develops as the best relationship over a period of time and they start becoming friends instead of quarreling with one another. This can not only be limited to studying but their food time, dress-up time and praying, sleeping time can be made common. This makes them the best companions and start loving each other. When we get the best pair, chances are that when one makes a mistake the other rectifies it. A saying goes like this,

“One hand cannot make a clap”.

Decision making

Indulge the elder child in taking care of the baby. Let the elder one pick up dresses while shopping for the little one. Allow those little hands to make decisions. It can be,

Selecting what his sibling needs to wear on a respective day, 

Make him sing rhymes as lullabies, 

Swinging the cradle, 

Bringing a nappy, wearing socks and

By reading a storybook.

Children feel recognized and are much happier when given authority.

Learn to appreciate their uniqueness

Each child is unique and as parents, we need to appreciate them for what they are capable of. It is essential to not compare one child with another. One may shine in academics and the other may aspire to become a sports person. So, try to understand and motivate what the child is interested in. Build their skills in their field and make them the most competitive person in the same in-spite of building complex by comparing. Because when compared, the children get agitated over the other and when continued in the long run might develop a sense of selfishness and grudge over the other. This leads to a building competition between both instead of building love. So it is better to avoid comparison right from birth. Each child has a unique capability, celebrate them for that!

Let us execute the above said strategies to make the sibling relationship stronger and celebrate each other. Because after all, we all have got only one life.