Taruna is exhausted. She has just come back from a hard day at work and she walks into the house only to hear her children screaming at each other. The moment they saw her, accusations against one another flew faster than she could handle them. “He’s not letting me study and I have my exam coming up,” shouts her daughter while her son screams back, ”She only pretends to study when I want to watch TV.”

Sibling rivalry is a fact of life. Taruna and her husband have tried hard to bring up their children with no conflict but are unable to overcome the forces of nature! It seems that they are always pulling them apart or acting as referees in another skirmish. What is the solution to sibling rivalry?

It is the exception rather than the rule that siblings can be the best of friends. Sibling rivalry or sibling conflict is very common. Fights among brothers and sisters will be interspersed with periods of affection and adoration for each other.

When there is a new baby born, the seeds of sibling rivalry are sown because the sibling sees a potential rival for parental attention. We also expect the child to share everything with his new sibling, from toys to books to room space. It does not seem to matter what the age difference is between siblings- they will find new and innovative situations to escalate a sibling war!