bodyType

customContents

entityId

entityUuid

articlePageQuery

filter

article

articleBaseAdvertisingInfoArticle

articleListArticle

articleSeoArticle

hooksArticleAcknowledgementGateOverlayArticle

hooksTrackPageViewArticle

hooksContentInterestArticle

articleLinkingDataContent

hooksAmpRedirectArticle

articleSchemaContent

liveArticle

advertZone

sentiment

contentLock

topics

types

sections

paywallTypes

createdDate

publishedDate

sponsorType

urlAlias

moreOnThisArticles

commentCount

authorLocations

authors

corrections

displaySlideShow

multimediaEmbed

printHeadline

seriesContainer

articleSpeeches

socialHeadline

headline

images

flag

firstTopic

glossary

flattenTypeIds

image

relatedLinks

relatedNewsletters

__typename

sponsor

pdfFiles

seriesReverseOrder

series

disableOffPlatformContent

published

updatedDate

summary

subHeadline

body

keywords

readingTime

customTimezone

liveContents

Hazel Parry

Raising Happy Brothers & Sisters

by Jan Parker and Jan Stimpson (Hodder Mobius $120)

The most common sibling squabbles in my home - and they happen quite frequently - usually involve sharing. Or, to be more precise, reluctance to share. Sharing toys,  sweets,  time and even  space on  parents' laps.

So, I have to admit to being impressed when, at first glance, Parker and Stimpson's book fell open at a page  that revealed a simple way of dealing with this dilemma when it involved objects: one child divides, the other gets to choose first which  half to have.

I asked my eight-year-old daughter  to think about the logic of this strategy and,  if she was  the one to do the dividing, how this would affect her. She thought for a couple of seconds, smiled and answered: 'I'd divide  things up exactly equal.' Bingo. Objective achieved.

It was for this reason that I decided Raising Happy Brothers  & Sisters was worth a detailed look. I wasn't disappointed. The authors are  parents  who met at antenatal classes. Parker  is a journalist who specialises in child  and family issues, and Stimpson is a parenting adviser for a charity called Parentline.

They make a good team, producing a book  full of tips and advice from experts and from real  parents and siblings. The book covers all the major issues parents face in raising more than one child, from preparing a child for the birth of a new sibling, to encouraging caring and sharing, understanding feelings and dealing with full-blown scraps.

The insights from other parents are particularly comforting for any parent who has stood in the middle of a 'he/she started it' row, or seen their children  hurt each other with names and torments.  The summary of the key points at  the end of each chapter also makes a useful source to dip into.

As the authors acknowledge, the sibling relationship has largely been overlooked in parenting books,  with many delving into the issue of helping children cope with a new sibling, but then stopping there, almost as if it's plain sailing from then on.

But when you bear in mind that most of our children's formative years are spent in the company of siblings, and that the bond they build with each other  is usually the most long-lasting of all family relationships, any advice a parent can get to make this relationship a good one must be invaluable.

Verdict: Sound advice on playing happy families.



Raising Happy Brothers & Sisters