for starters jackie is an only child. I for one was the only girl and in the middle of two boys. We are all four years apart. We fought big time. We argued about things. We fought for attention from my parents. If you speak to each one of us separately sure you will get different stories. But the things we agree on yes we fought, yes we argued and hit each other. And yes we each wanted attention from our parents, but overall we do not think our mother favored one over the other. She did treat us equal. but some circumstances one child would get more attention than the other two at times. And vice versa...... but you have to share two parents to each child. So favorites was not played of an overall growing up process in our house. Today we are all very close. We see each other at least twice a week and at least every other weekend as a group.
Oh my yes! They fight over what color the sky is, who sits where in the car, who's washing dishes and who's feeding the dogs..I don't care if I have a schedule made and posted on the wall, they'll still be argueing! I have learned one may seem to start the fights, but actually one is just much sneakier about starting it. One may yell but the other will walk by and make snide comments to make the other one blow up. Things like that. I won't even go into how I handle it because there's not a simple way! LOL! It may be as elaborate as an extra chore jar to as rattling as me yelling at the top of my lungs that I don't CARE who's right or wrong I just want QUIET! I WILL say that we've made sure to foster a relationship between then..My son gets upset when someone is ugly to his sister and shes' always trying to 'clean him up' so he'll look good for the girls! LOL! DH and I don't have relationships with our siblings so we really hope these two will be closer as they grow up! Right now they're barely 2.5 years apart so they're very competitive!
As for favoring one sibling over the other when I grew up, my younger brother had tons of emotional issues anyway so he was always the one in trouble. Hate to say it but I probably got away with tons of things I wouldn't have otherwise if I didn't have him to deflect attention to! At first I didn't recall much fighting between us but we must have because I recalled my dad getting so angry that he picked me up and threw me across the room onto my bed (NOT his normal behavior, so it must have been pretty bad!LOL) No hard feelings though, I deserved it!
I don't feel there was any favoritism, but I understood my brother had tons of problems (he spent several years being physically abused in a foster care home as an infant and toddler) so I didn't feel offended when he and our parents were in therapy or other programs trying to help him. He really was BAD and I actually felt sorry for my parents having to deal with him. I guess my being considered the 'good one' may have been hard for him to deal with, but he plenty of other issues going on.
My brother took the hard road to growing up, making life choices that really removed him from the family. We really haven't kept in touch but I do wish him well!
I was the last of four and don't honestly think my parents favored any child over another. I think they parented the first two differently than me and my sister though. I fought most with my next oldest sister. I'm very close to my two sisters and rarely speak to my brother. I only talk to him when I see him at family parties.
I have 2 kids and they are 2 years apart. They can be the best of friends and fight so much it drives you beserk. I think this is actually quite healthy in helping them figure out how to get along with the opposite sex, how to stand up for yourself,(how to torture another human being - lol) I don't think they fight for our affection, I think they fight for the love of the sport. They aren't awful, they just know how to push each others buttons.
Yes, my kids fight all the time, but I don't think it has to do with getting attention (from me or DH). I don't think we favor one over the other. They are both so different besides the fact that they are brother and sister. They are both equally guilty of starting the fights. If I had to pick one it would be Hannah (almost 13) more than Nathan (10) She's kind of bossy and likes to tell him what to do.
I don't think my parents favored any of us. We are 3 girls. My two younger sisters fought a lot. I pretty much stayed out of it. My youngest sister also is very different than the middle one and me. She was the one to go out and party, where as my other sister and I didn't. I don't know if that difference defined how we act toward each other these days...I don't really talk much to the youngest--she's turned very self centered and I don't like her behavior. My other sister and I are pretty close.
I did not feel any rivalry with my sisters, but you must keep in mind that they were 9 and almost 11 years older than me, they weren't rivals, we weren't anywhere near on the same level.
I for one was the only girl and in the middle of two boys. We are all four years apart. We fought big time. We argued about things. We fought for attention from my parents. If you speak to each one of us separately sure you will get different stories. But the things we agree on yes we fought, yes we argued and hit each other. And yes we each wanted attention from our parents, but overall we do not think our mother favored one over the other. She did treat us equal. but some circumstances one child would get more attention than the other two at times. And vice versa...... but you have to share two parents to each child. So favorites was not played of an overall growing up process in our house. Today we are all very close. We see each other at least twice a week and at least every other weekend as a group.
Oh my yes! They fight over what color the sky is, who sits where in the car, who's washing dishes and who's feeding the dogs..I don't care if I have a schedule made and posted on the wall, they'll still be argueing! I have learned one may seem to start the fights, but actually one is just much sneakier about starting it. One may yell but the other will walk by and make snide comments to make the other one blow up. Things like that. I won't even go into how I handle it because there's not a simple way! LOL! It may be as elaborate as an extra chore jar to as rattling as me yelling at the top of my lungs that I don't CARE who's right or wrong I just want QUIET! I WILL say that we've made sure to foster a relationship between then..My son gets upset when someone is ugly to his sister and shes' always trying to 'clean him up' so he'll look good for the girls! LOL! DH and I don't have relationships with our siblings so we really hope these two will be closer as they grow up! Right now they're barely 2.5 years apart so they're very competitive!
As for favoring one sibling over the other when I grew up, my younger brother had tons of emotional issues anyway so he was always the one in trouble. Hate to say it but I probably got away with tons of things I wouldn't have otherwise if I didn't have him to deflect attention to! At first I didn't recall much fighting between us but we must have because I recalled my dad getting so angry that he picked me up and threw me across the room onto my bed (NOT his normal behavior, so it must have been pretty bad!LOL) No hard feelings though, I deserved it!
I don't feel there was any favoritism, but I understood my brother had tons of problems (he spent several years being physically abused in a foster care home as an infant and toddler) so I didn't feel offended when he and our parents were in therapy or other programs trying to help him. He really was BAD and I actually felt sorry for my parents having to deal with him. I guess my being considered the 'good one' may have been hard for him to deal with, but he plenty of other issues going on.
My brother took the hard road to growing up, making life choices that really removed him from the family. We really haven't kept in touch but I do wish him well!
Denise
I was the last of four and don't honestly think my parents favored any child over another. I think they parented the first two differently than me and my sister though. I fought most with my next oldest sister. I'm very close to my two sisters and rarely speak to my brother. I only talk to him when I see him at family parties.
I have 2 kids and they are 2 years apart. They can be the best of friends and fight so much it drives you beserk. I think this is actually quite healthy in helping them figure out how to get along with the opposite sex, how to stand up for yourself,(how to torture another human being - lol) I don't think they fight for our affection, I think they fight for the love of the sport. They aren't awful, they just know how to push each others buttons.
Yes, my kids fight all the time, but I don't think it has to do with getting attention (from me or DH). I don't think we favor one over the other. They are both so different besides the fact that they are brother and sister. They are both equally guilty of starting the fights. If I had to pick one it would be Hannah (almost 13) more than Nathan (10) She's kind of bossy and likes to tell him what to do.
I don't think my parents favored any of us. We are 3 girls. My two younger sisters fought a lot. I pretty much stayed out of it. My youngest sister also is very different than the middle one and me. She was the one to go out and party, where as my other sister and I didn't. I don't know if that difference defined how we act toward each other these days...I don't really talk much to the youngest--she's turned very self centered and I don't like her behavior. My other sister and I are pretty close.
Karin
I did not feel any rivalry with my sisters, but you must keep in mind that they were 9 and almost 11 years older than me, they weren't rivals, we weren't anywhere near on the same level.
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