01.10.09
Brothers Fighting: A Lesson In Sharing?
What happened to the old adage that having a sibling teaches you how to share in life? Why do brothers fight?
As I sit here listening to the screaming coming from our basement I wonder how I got myself into this predicament. Do they have too much? Do they have too little? Are we not stepping in as parents and helping them resolve conflicts more constructively? Is there such a thing as constructive conflict resolution without leaving some damage?
The only thing they are sharing now is a mean thirst to beat each other senseless. And, boys tend to be pretty physical (trust me, I am NOT saying girls are not physical, but boys just tend to be a bit more rough). It’s really just a matter of time before I have to run downstairs and separate them, risking bodily injury to myself while they walk away unscathed.
So what is the issue at hand this time? Well, it’s a couple of issues. First Issue: Older son went on younger son’s computer and messed with his ITunes…not tragic but still an invasion of privacy. Second issue: younger sons (aka the twins) lost older son’s memory card after they used it of course….also not tragic but pretty annoying none the less. I could go on and on with multiple issues of the day but the two aforementioned pretty much give you the flavor of the moment.
I recognize both issues at hand are an invasion of privacy. BUT both go back to sharing in a way. Older son uses younger son’s computer, younger sons use older son’s memory card. Ah Hah! So that’s how siblings learn to share? So someone please remind me….what do we, the parents get out of it????