"While having them 12 months apart wasn't the plan, it's what it is. What I'm finding is that my boys aren't close. They love each other and are excited to see one another when they've been apart, but often when it comes to empathy for one another, they're a bit....lacking. They have to be coached to hug one another and say "sorry" for hurts or slights."
"Their father, whom I divorced a little over a year ago, is what I call "empathy impaired." He had a rough childhood, and care for others has never been a strong point for him (part of why I divorced him). He also tends to favor our older son because he's more capable, with the younger one getting ignored or left behind."
A parent of two sons, ages five and six, reports that the boys are not close and often lack empathy, needing coaching to hug and apologize. The children play together but bicker, become territorial over toys and art supplies, and resist sharing. The father is described as emotionally "empathy impaired," with a rough childhood and a tendency to favor the older, more capable son while ignoring the younger. The older child is highly competitive; the younger child is indifferent. The parent asks how to teach empathy and counteract the father's selfish example. The response emphasizes developmental shifts and predicts fluctuating sibling relationships over time.
Read at Slate Magazine
Unable to calculate read time
Collection
[
|
...
]