Dealing With Sibling Squabbles

In a house with any children, there are always siblings squabbling over one thing or another. In a house with 5 children it is slightly magnified. Though I have tried to be diligent with discipline and correction, sometimes I am not always sure what is the right response. For example, Pepe and AJ are playing. AJ asks something of Pepe, which he ignores. AJ hits Pepe for ignoring his request. Pepe comes to me crying and I discipline AJ for hitting. You must understand the personality differences between those boys - Pepe is bigger and older but more gentle, even-keel, a soft heart. AJ is younger, thinner, smaller, a spitfire full of spunk and energy. So, anyway, back to the example, I would discipline AJ for hitting but not Pepe for ignoring AJ. I have actually told Pepe to hit AJ back! I know, not one of my better moments. After all, I need to teach Pepe to defend himself. Thankfully, I decided to head over to a blog called Raising Olives and the Lord provided the answer to my dilemma right there. Raising Olives is about a homeschool family of 11 that loves the Lord. Her post entitled Solving Sibling Squabbles lays out what I had been hoping for or attempting to do in such a wonderful way. Now I have a clear guideline for dealing with the squabbles that happen here on a regular basis! I cannot wait for the first argument so I can try it out!!