As you know, I am an only child. Therefore, I did not get into sibling fights. Because I was an only child, I wanted my offspring to have a sibling. I wanted them to have experienced sharing, loving, arguing and out-and-out fights.
There are good aspects in that my children learned to live with someone else. The bad news could be that they don’t know how to appreciate being alone. That is a story for another time. In the house that the girls remember best, they had a suite of 3 rooms and a bathroom. They had the ability to configure those three rooms however they wanted. They could paint and decorate them from very traditional with a chair rail to deepest purple to match a painting in the room.
There were times when they each had their own sleeping room with the third as a study, or a crafts room for me or a guest bedroom. More often than not, they shared a bedroom with a room for study and a room for play (or mom’s crafts – I got around you see!)
The largest of the rooms they chose as a bedroom. They had twin beds on one wall with closets on another and all the doors in and out on a third. You have the picture, right?
Life went merrily along for quite some time, until one momentous day. The girls had one of those fights where you draw a line in the sand that neither can cross. Interestingly, that line was drawn between the beds from one side of the room to the other. While I did not hear the fight, I heard the aftermath screeching and crying.
Because of this not-to-be-crossed line, one of my daughters could not get into or out of the room without crossing her sister’s half of the room. In addition, she had no way of using the bathroom. On the other hand, my younger daughter couldn’t get to her clothes. Neither was happy with the outcome and neither wanted to give in.
What did they learn from this? They learned that drawing a line in the sand does not always get you what you want. They learned that compromise, collaboration and concession can often provide a better outcome. Finally, they learned not to act out of anger as you don’t always see the results of your words and actions until it is too late to make changes.
Something else I have learned as a business woman is to ask for what you want. If you loved what you just read, this content is not for free. As a form of payment, I am asking you simply to comment or share this on Facebook or tweet about it on Twitter.
Linda Patten, MBA, BSN, RN has over 30 years of experience leading women to success in building and achieving their dreams. She turns networking marketing women from product sellers to leaders of highly functioning teams. To learn more about her innovative programs, click on Contact Us.