At about six years of age the eldest used to complain about fights with her friends at school.
"This one wants to play with that one, and she doesn't want to play with that one..." And so forth!
Day after day I had to listen to the dramas in Little Girls' country! It was all about girls' politics!
(I hear from friends that it is the normal age for that to happen.)
It does not stop, but they become better at handling rejection as well as treating others with empathy and understanding!
I explained to my six year old that she had to be the best friend she could be!
She had to be the friend who did not differentiate, and who treated everybody the way she would like to be treated.It also helps to understand that you should have lots of friends, and not only a Best Friend!
It worked! I am planning to do the same again when the toddler reaches that age!
In the meantime it is all about teaching the toddler the concept of sharing! The toddler did not want to leave the swing on Saturday at Tiny Tumbles... (see photo)
How do you handle the friendship dramas?
Do you sometimes step in when things turn ugly, or do you let her sort it out on her own?
We are just newly entering into the 'little girl friend' dramas and I expect that with two girls close in age we are in it for the long haul. I like your perspective and it's great to get some hints on how to handle it. x
ReplyDeleteI only have the one girl and did notice that there was changes in her group of friends about a year ago (age 15).
ReplyDeleteI listened to her but knew from the way she was talking about it that she was learning from the experiences and was keeping herself out of the little arguements between members of the group.
They have all settled themselves more now, especially since some are going in diff directions to diff colleges.
carol