I have 3 children, 12 yo boy, 5 yo girl and 4 yo girl... They are lovely, sweet, well behaved kids individually, but put them together, and the older 2 bully their younger sister! She is such a sweet, beautiful child, and all she wants is to be included in play time... This week, we've dealt with her being kicked out of a bedroom, then all 3 are in her room so she can "watch" them play, and the last straw was them talking about wrecking her teddy bear (her favourite Christmas present from the grandparents that sings a personalised song)... I've discussed this with them, forced them together, forced them apart, yelled, taken away privileges, but the seem to enjoy being mean to her! It breaks my heart watching my baby girl suffering abuse at the hands of her siblings, she's 4 and developing self esteem issues... Miss 5 seems to go along with her brother, simply because she wants his attention, but he is down right nasty! He's currently not allowed anything to do with the girls, but he seems quite happy to have it this way! I love my children, but right now, I really do not like my son... How do I get through to him? The worst part is, he gets picked on at school, so he knows how much it hurts! I expect them to fight, that's normal, but I can't stand them being nasty to each other... Please give me some ideas...
1 Replies
Get the twelve years old into counseling. I'd say it's a direct link to him being picked on, he's recreating the situation but with himself in the power position.
Maybe he feels some power, maybe he doesn't feel so shit, maybe he likes the five year old admiring him, but he wont like being cut off from family and having you also calling him nasty and unlikeable when he's getting the same message at school. Help him sort it out by getting him and maybe yourself some counseling.