Families are messy. The sibling dynamic can never be fully explained to someone without siblings. With many families quarantined together, it can be difficult for siblings to get along without fighting too much. If you find yourself in that situation, here are a few tips to keep things from escalating too far:
- If you are each watching a TV show and find yourselves fighting over who gets to use the TV, make a schedule; one person gets it one night, the other the next night, and so on. Or, maybe you find a show you can watch together so that when you cannot come to an agreement on who gets the TV, there is something that pleases everyone. Speaking from experience, these two systems work great!
- Find things to do together. Maybe you enjoy cooking, baking, playing games, building things, playing music, or any number of other activities. Set aside time to do them together and just have fun.
- Be kind to one another. I know very well the temptation to tease siblings or refuse simple favors or make things difficult in any way possible. But you are going to be stuck together for a while, so you might as well practice being nice. You just might like how it feels and how much easier it makes your life.
Eventually, this will be over. We just have to hold out and stay safe and sane until that time. It might be challenging to keep the tension to a minimum, but it will be worth it in the end. We all love our siblings, we might as well try to get along and keep each other happy.