Loving Them Fiercely, Liking Them Less: The Honest Terrain of Sibling Dynamics
There’s a quiet truth many parents carry but rarely say aloud: you can love your chil dren with every fiber of your being and still, at times, not like them very much. Especially when they’re tearing into each other like rival raccoons over a banana peel. Sibling conflict has a way of igniting something primal in us. The bickering, the tattling, the relentless one-upmanship—it can feel like living inside a reality show with no commercial breaks. And when the behavior turns mean-spirited or manipulative, it’s not just frustrating. It’s heartbreaking. Because we know who they are underneath it all. We’ve seen their tenderness, their creativity, their capacity for joy. We’ve held them through fevers and nightmares. We’ve watched them share snacks with stray cats and cry over broken toys. We know they’re good. But in those moments of cruelty or chaos, it’s hard to reconcile that goodness with the behavior in front of us. And here’s the kicker: when they treat each other poor...