Written by :
Founder of Family Dynamics
Marriage and Family Therapist
Children Play Therapist
Ng Yee Kam
In recent play therapy cases,
several of the children’s emotional problems were related to their young
siblings’ relationship. Most of these problems were not caused by major
arguments, but rather by subtle interactions in which each child was seeking
the mother’s attention, comparing how much positive feedback they received from
each other, and comparing who the mother “loved” more! Children often
fight with each other because they are jealous of their siblings and take the
opportunity to vent their frustrations.
It is true
that everyone is “biased” and so are parents. Both inborn and
nurtured personalities can lead to a preference for certain behaviors and
behavioral patterns. If parents do not think about this, they will not suddenly
become more open-minded because their children are their own.
Parents may
be more appreciative of certain traits and more resistant to certain traits in
their children’s different personalities. This is understandable. The problem
is that parents must be aware of this situation and be aware of it and allow
themselves to grow beyond the narrow framework of their parental role, increase
the breadth and width of their own vision, learn to appreciate the differences
in their children’s personalities, and appreciate their children’s unique
strengths from the bottom of their hearts, and pass them on in their daily
lives so that their children can receive them and affirm themselves. This will
prevent the problem of sibling rivalry from worsening and causing unnecessary
jealousy and suspicion in children.
The mother’s
role is especially important during the early years of a child’s life because
the quality of the mother’s interaction with the child has a critical impact on
the child’s self-worth and sense of security. In these recent cases, it was not
uncommon to find that the children had a sibling in the family who was
cheerful, understanding, and liked to express herself, and was well liked by
adults and teachers. I could see the mother’s joy and pride when describing her
child. No wonder the children in these cases often felt compared to the others
because they were more introverted, reticent, shy and cautious.