Fallen Halos

We are now home from Florida and my kids are way out of sorts. It has been a struggle to say the least, for all of us to keep our emotions in check. After an 18hr drive down, side by side and then spending everyday for weeks on end side by side, and then another 18hr drive home, side by side, we are all needing some space.

My mom handed me a book while we were in Florida that I had to laugh about when I read the title: "Mom, he hit me!" What To Do About Sibling Rivalry Practical Tools for Parents by Elaine K. McEwan. The back of the book says "Sibling rivalry doesn't occur in every household... only those with more than one child." That too made me laugh. So I really wasn't taking this book very seriously. I thought, I will read a chapter or two just to make mom happy, but I was really skeptical that there was anything in this book that could help me direct my three back to Sainthood.


I totally skipped and ignored the first chapter "Is Sibling Rivalry Normal?" Of course it is no need to read what I already know. So I moved on to the second chapter, "Teamwork: Building A Family That Works Together." Immediatley I started looking for a hightlighter and wrote down a few notes. Ok, so there were some good points made. But when I got to the third chapter, "Understanding Your Child's Uniqueness," that was when I started seeing this whole book in a new light.








I have always know that each of my children are very different from each other, but I still have treated each of them the same. I have never wanted them to feel that I was favoring one of them over the other so I gave all three of them the same attention. Now I know that in doing so I was favoring one more than the other, because their differences call for different ways of showing attention. It was like a light bulb came on inside my head and I suddenly was highlighting and taking notes in full speed.

In the coming months I may be refering back to this book as Heath and I put into practice some of the most simple ways of celebrating our children. If you have more than one child at home or even if you only have one child at home and are planning to eventually have more, I would encourage you to read this book or find another similar book, it will change your life and the life of you family.