Hi!
I'm hoping someone might have some insight for me on how to talk to my son (5) about his issues with his younger sister (2). I've also just read Non-Violent Communication, so I'm trying to apply those ideas to my parenting. If anyone has happened to read it, great, if not that's ok .... Anyway, here's the situation:
DS says he doesn't like DD. It's a general statement of fact that he'll repeat I'll guess about 1-2 times a week usually in the context of "I hit/pushed/squished her because I don't like her." We talk about feelings being one thing, but actions being a choice, that it's not ok to hit/push/squish someone and everyone needs to be safe in our home.
Today when DH picked him up after school he pushed down someone else's younger sibling. Neither I nor DD were there. When I talked to him about it, he said he did it because he doesn't like babies (kid in question is 2.5-3yrs old?). I asked if he feels angry at younger kids because he's angry/irritated at DD and he said yes. DD is 2 and she certainly does plenty to push his buttons (hitting, grabbing, ripping papers, screaming ...). Today was also the first day back at school after 2 wks, so DS was probably also feeling a bit rebellious after a long day of rules.
My question is, is there anything I can do to improve this situation? What do you say to your older kids when the younger one is being obnoxious? (not to place blame, but plenty of 2yr old behaviors are challenging even for adults). Are there things I can be saying to DD? Any comments, insights, thoughts are welcome!
TIA!
I'm hoping someone might have some insight for me on how to talk to my son (5) about his issues with his younger sister (2). I've also just read Non-Violent Communication, so I'm trying to apply those ideas to my parenting. If anyone has happened to read it, great, if not that's ok .... Anyway, here's the situation:
DS says he doesn't like DD. It's a general statement of fact that he'll repeat I'll guess about 1-2 times a week usually in the context of "I hit/pushed/squished her because I don't like her." We talk about feelings being one thing, but actions being a choice, that it's not ok to hit/push/squish someone and everyone needs to be safe in our home.
Today when DH picked him up after school he pushed down someone else's younger sibling. Neither I nor DD were there. When I talked to him about it, he said he did it because he doesn't like babies (kid in question is 2.5-3yrs old?). I asked if he feels angry at younger kids because he's angry/irritated at DD and he said yes. DD is 2 and she certainly does plenty to push his buttons (hitting, grabbing, ripping papers, screaming ...). Today was also the first day back at school after 2 wks, so DS was probably also feeling a bit rebellious after a long day of rules.
My question is, is there anything I can do to improve this situation? What do you say to your older kids when the younger one is being obnoxious? (not to place blame, but plenty of 2yr old behaviors are challenging even for adults). Are there things I can be saying to DD? Any comments, insights, thoughts are welcome!
TIA!