RULE 63
Never compare children with each other
I know a couple who have two children – one (as so often) is predominantly very well behaved, and the other is frequently naughty. And to some extent it’s the parents’ own fault. Why? Because they actually say to the naughty one,* ‘Why can’t you behave as nicely as your sister?’ If that isn’t a red rag to a bull, I don’t know what is.
There’s no way your children are going to have an easy relationship if jealousies and rivalries are allowed to grow up between them. So don’t ever let one of them know that you think they’re better at sport than the others, or not as clever, or funny, or talented. No, that doesn’t mean you have to pretend that they’re equally good at everything. That would be silly. ...
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