Living Through Sibling Rivalry
My 14-year-old is smack dab in the middle of the teenage attitude. I speak of “the teenage attitude” like it’s a serious ailment. But then, if you have a teenager, you know it is a serious ailment. Or at least it feels like it.
My teen is a good kid, but he can be so darn annoying sometimes. He’s a big-time limit tester. He is constantly trying to see what he can get away with and how far he can go before my husband and I completely lose our minds.
Our biggest issue is him picking on his younger siblings; mostly his 9-year-old brother. I know sibling rivalry happens in every family, but it doesn’t really give me any comfort to know I’m not alone. I just want the fighting to stop.
The teen was an only child (other than his older half-brother who didn’t yet live with us) for the first five years of his life. And, I admit it, we spoiled him a bit. Then his world turned upside down when our twins were born. He went from spoiled only child to big brother of not one, but two babies. And I don’t think he’s ever forgiven the twins for crashing his party.
Fast forward to Thursday night when the teen and his brother were fighting over a video game. They were going back and forth calling each other a retard. “You’re a bigger retard.” “No you are.” Back and forth until I thought my head might explode. I cannot stand it when they call each other names. And I get exceptionally angry when they call each other “retards.”
I separated the boys and got the teen in his room. But he wouldn’t stop. He was trying to convince me he never called his brother a name…even though I heard the whole conversation. I just wanted him to shush and take a breather.
Eventually I grounded him from electronics for the rest of the night. I thought for sure that would quiet him down since his keyboard is practically an extension of his fingers. But nope. He kept on going. So I grounded him for a second night. That finally calmed him down. I guess he didn’t want to spend this whole weekend grounded from his life line.
The school ended up closing on Friday due to a snow storm blowing in. The teen was so disappointed because that meant he had a full day with no computer or video games. And he tested me all day long. He woke up at 6am and immediately got on the computer until Dad told him to shut it down. Later that night I found him on his computer and had to again get after him to turn it off.
However, other than those two “reminders,” he spent most of the day reading. And, get this, being nice to his brother. Turns out this punishment thing actually works sometimes. But I’m sure they will be fighting again by tomorrow. *sigh*
