Is sibling rivalry normal?
Yes, given that my definition of normal is that the fighting doesnt draw blood on too many occasions, that not speaking doesnt last forever and that the jealousy or feelings of lack of love do not manifest themselves into bad behavior or a drop in grades in school, for example. To understand this better I will give you examples from my own family of rivalry I consider normal. When my now 24-year old was little, she would get very angry with her sister who is 2 years younger. The anger would manifest itself as an attempt to strangle my younger daughter. The key word here is attempt. It is also crucial to understand that she loved her sister (and still does) and would never truly hurt her. Another example is when I came home one night to find my older daughters nose bitten by her younger sister. I did call their pediatrician at 1:00 am because she drew blood and I thought a tetanus shot might be needed. It wasnt! That was not a recurring theme in my household so I considered it normal. T
