Lessons in Motherhood

Being an only child, I know relatively little about sibling dynamics. I was not at all prepared for the amount of quarreling that goes on between sisters. Or maybe I just thought that it wouldn’t happen until Sophia could talk. She’s certainly at a disadvantage since she can’t verbally argue with her sister, but what she lacks in vocabulary, she makes up for in VOLUME. There’s certainly never a question about what she wants.

So, I’ve taught Hailey the barter method of arbitrating disputes. That basically equates to distract and steal. Give Sophia something of equal or greater value, and she will put down what she has to take the other item. It works really well except when Hailey gets lazy and tries to trade her something like a block for a remote control. Yeah, that’s not going to work. Not now and not when you’re 16 and your sister wants to watch Project Runway while you want to watch So You Think You Can Dance.

Anyhow, the barter method is about the only thing that I’ve come up with and it’s probably only going to take us so far. If anyone has any other suggestions to help ease these battles let me know. I’m feeling bad for the neighbors who live on our street and probably hear a good dose of Sophia-style arguing (i.e. screaming at the top of her lungs) on a daily basis.