Familiarity breeds contempt, especially when it comes to siblings on break. IBA Board Member Shana from Our Sutton Place shares a genius trick to ending the bickering in seconds.
This one simple trick will stop sibling fighting instantly. By diffusing the situation, it will bring laughter and fun back into your family’s day.
You plan for weeks or months for the perfect vacation—10 min in to the big summer road trip—the fighting and bickering starts.
Don’t touch me.
She took my crayons.
Stop humming that song.
That’s my water bottle.
Mommmmmm!!!!
And so it begins—the official family summer vacation.
Your normal discipline routines are out the window. No special corner or bedroom for timeout. You already took away the iPad. And the candy. And the snacks. And threatened tomorrow’s use of all privileges. What’s left to do? Your dream vacation is turning into a nightmare…..
We’ve all been there, right?
It seems like the fighting will never end, and you’re frustrated after having exhausted all normal consequence routes.
Well, here’s a simple, ingenious trick that REALLY WORKS.
Stop and think about what your kids like to do together. We all know they don’t fight 100% of the time. Sometimes it just feels like they do.
What’s the one thing you can do no matter where you are?
I’ll give you a clue:
All kids love it. And you can do it anywhere.
(We usually encourage it when we’re waiting for a table at a restaurant or in line at a theme park).
It keeps them busy.
Keeps them wanting more.
And usually results in infectious laughter.
TWO WORDS:
STARING CONTEST
Staring contests are automatic mood shifters.
WHY STARING CONTESTS WORK TO STOP SIBLING FIGHTS
The child is so intent on winning and focused on not blinking that they usually forget about what they were upset about to begin with.
USING STARING CONTESTS TO STOP SIBLING FIGHTS
Staring contests are perfect behavior shifters to use, especially on vacation when kids are out of their normal element.
It’s quick, it’s fun, and it’s effective.
My cousin documented the power of staring contests earlier this summer.
This quick-thinking mom of 4 was 10 minutes into their long cross country road trip when her two older kids started fighting. Six people all cramped into one SUV made normal consequence options difficult.
Separate the kids? Not possible
Take away devices? Already done
Time out? Impossible
So, she stopped the car, let everyone run around and had the two squabbling siblings duke it out in an old fashioned STARING CONTEST.
Step 1: Put your kids very close together-almost nose to nose
Step 2: Start the clock
Step 3: Watch the anger diffuse and laughter begin instantly
My cousin was able to diffuse the situation in 7 seconds!!! Let me repeat–7 seconds and NO MORE FIGHTING.
Pretty amazing.