sibling rivalry

[Guest]

i feel like my parents only pay attention to my older brother, and i'm sick of it. i want to be noticed to. i try to act out, but either i fail at that, or they really just dont care. what should i do?

[ccsmod1]

Re: sibling rivalry

Thanks for posting on our bulletin board. We’re sorry to hear that your parents pay more attention to your older brother. It’s probably very difficult to feel that your parents don’t notice you.

You mentioned that you try to act out, but that it hasn’t worked to “be noticed” more. Have you ever tried to be upfront with your parents about how you feel? Sometimes conversations like that can be a little scary, since you don’t know what their reactions will be, so it’s understandable if you haven’t tried that or don’t want to.

One of the things that we do here is mediated conference calls. If a youth calls us, we would talk to them about what’s going on and help them call their parents to talk about some of the issues. Sometimes it helps to have an unbiased, non-judgemental person facilitate difficult conversations. If this is something you’re interested in, you’re welcome to call us anytime.

Even if you don’t feel the conference call would help, you’re welcome to call us anytime to talk about everything that’s going on. We’re not here to tell you what to do, but we are here to listen to you, talk about options and help you come up with a plan to make things better. Someone is here 24/7, so you can call anytime.

[ccsmod0]

Re: sibling rivalry

Thank you for responding back so quickly. It sounds like things haven't been working with getting your parents attention. That can be frustrate when you have been trying to do so. We want to let you know that we are here for you during this difficult time. You are welcome to call us here at 1800RUNAWAY (786-2929) from any type of phone. We are a completely confidential, anonymous and want you to feel safe in calling here. We can discuss in more detail how you are feeling and possible options in ways to get your parents attention. We look forward in talking with you and wish you the best!

Take care,
NRS