Researchers tell us that 36 million acts of sibling rivalry occur every year. Some are severe. Most are normal. When your kids fight, they want you in the middle. They want you to be the judge and jury. They each want you to take their side. I remember my own mothers reaction.

When I was a kid, my brother, Art, and I fought constantly. We kicked, we teased, we shoved, we called each other names, and we rolled over and over on the ground punching each other as hard as we could. My mother said, I was sure you two would kill each other.

Many fights started in our backyard. In my excitement to win the fights, my yelling grew so loud that the whole neighborhood knew we were slugging it out again. My, mother, a rather shy person, would throw up a back room window and yell, For Gods sake Jeanie, shut up! The whole neighborhood heard her too. Her shouts embarrassed me and hurt my feelings but they didnt stop me. My brother and I fought like that almost every day. And almost everyday mom would shout the same command.

Looking back, I cant remember what Art and I fought about. I can remember my mothers words. How about you?

When your kids fight, and you step in the middle,
what will your kids remember?

Your yelling?
Your swearing?
Your hitting?
Your lecturing?
Your letting them duke it out?

Knowing what to do in the heat of the moment isnt easy. What is easy, is letting your own anger explode. If you do, what are you really teaching your kids?

Parenting Tips and Advice:

Talk the situation over with your partner.
Come up with a logical plan for handling future fights.
Tell your kids (when theyre not fighting) what will happen the next time they fight.
Determine to respond with your reason and not your emotion.
Follow through with the plan.

If you react to your kids fighting the way my mother did, you can change.

Ask yourself these three questions:

What will my kids remember about my reactions?
What am I really teaching them?
What do I want to teach them?

Heres to your parenting success!

Jean Tracy

Jean Tracy, MSS "Granny Jean" helps parents, teachers and counselors, raise awesome kids with solid characters. She graduated from Seattle University with a degree in education. She taught elementary school in Washington, California, and Connecticut.

Inspired by her desire to help the problem children in her classes, Jean returned to graduate school. She earned a Masters Degree in Social Work from Bryn Mawr College in Pennsylvania. Upon returning to her home in Washington State, she worked as a probation officer and then developed a private counseling practice with families and children that spanned 22 years. During this time she earned a Diplomate in Clinical Social Work.

When asked how she developed her parenting books and products, she tells a unique story. "When I was an intern counselor in an old elementary school in Pennsylvania, I shared my office with the janitor under the stairwell. When the bell rang, the children's pounding footsteps drowned out every counseling session I ever had. The office itself had buckets, mops, and assorted cans lining the walls. The light bulb overhead swung back and forth casting creepy shadows everywhere. My counseling tools were broken down toys in a huge vinyl bag. Those toys never seemed a good way to counsel kids.

When I started my counseling practice, I looked for better skills to understand the kids I counseled. Over the years I developed fun ways to communicate with kids, to help parents help their own kids, and build character too. My unique parenting books and products are the result."

Jean Tracy, "Granny Jean" is a wife, mother, and grandmother. She is also an award-winning Distinguished Toastmaster and professional speaker. Her presentations, include:

1. Build Character Now! Practical Tools for Busy Parents 2. Discipline Styles, 3 to Lose and 1 to Choose 3. Family Meetings: This Special Formula Builds Character 4. Teach Your Child Success! 1 Simple Formula, 3 Easy Steps

Granny Jean's presentations are full of stories and interactive activities that will help you as parents, teachers, and counselors build solid character in your awesome children.