Member Question:
Practically every day, little sister won’t get out of older sister’s personal space. She does this on purpose as older sister yells to get away. Do I pull her away? Is there something I can say which will deter her from always touching, hurting, getting in her space???
Rachel’s Response:
You’re asking how to handle little sister’s behavior, right? I’d actually start by thinking about why she’s getting in older sister’s space? Is she bored and looking for stimulation (which she’s getting by older sister’s reaction)? Is she trying to show she has “power” over her older sister? Maybe both? 🙂
What I’d do is, before that starts happening, make sure she has something else to do that will engage her. Ask her to make up a story to tell you. Ask her to make up an obstacle course (that will also give her a sense of power since she’s “in charge.”) Ask her to come up with a play to perform later, etc. (Obviously you’d want to tailor these to her interests.)
If this is something that happens daily, she may need a list of ideas that she gets to choose from (out of a hat – that can make it more interesting) each day.
