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Childhood sibling rivalry continues into adulthood, because the parents or parent of the siblings failed to deal with the problem when the siblings were growing up.
I grew up with five brothers, and four sisters, and there was plenty of sibling rivalry in our house. My mother and step father dealt with most of the situations, but there were quite a few times, when things slipped right by them because they were usually working. One of the things that have seemed to follow me into adulthood, is the way my older brothers used to boss me around. I complained about it over the years, but it was never really dealt with, so at forty two years old, I sometimes find myself having to let my brothers know, that I am a grown woman now, and I will no longer be bossed around.
Some parents blow sibling rivalry off as if to say. They're brother and sister, it's normal to fight sometimes, when in fact it's not always alright to argue and fight. Some siblings go far beyond arguing, and actually fist fight each other or worse. I've heard many parents complain and say" I wish my children didn't fight so much", when they should have nipped it in the bud, and taken the sibling squabbles more seriously while the siblings were growing up.

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