The Sibling Dance

A few days ago I posted the photo above on my social media channels. It's not a great photo, just a quick snap of them playing chess. The reason behind the photo was that they were ACTUALLY getting along. This is practically unheard of around here. The 2 of them are not close, at all. They fight pretty much (name calling, swearing at each other, taking each others things, hitting/kicking/biting/punching/pulling each others hair kind of fighting) ALL.THE.TIME.

Being a parent is difficult. There is so much to think about, and many different hats that need to be warn. I often wonder what I could have done differently when they were younger to change their relationship a bit, but I think it really just comes down to personalities. They are very different people. I think about the fact that if they weren't siblings, they wouldn't be friends. Neither of them has any friends with similar personality traits to their brother. They just aren't drawn to the other.

My brother and I fought a lot growing up, and we didn't get along unless our cousins were over (and even then, the bickering was pretty constant). After my father died (we were both teenagers) we pretty much just ignored each other, unless we were forced to be together and then the fighting continued. Eventually, as we were both in our early twenties, things calmed down and we are actually quite close now.

I have high hopes that will be the case for my 2 boys. When I was pregnant with Mr. K, and found out it was a boy, I had dreams of the 2 of them being best of friends.  That hasn't happened. They do have each others backs when it's needed, and they can come together long enough to play nice when they want something from us.

What about your children - do they get along all the time, or are there constant battles?