Ignore Your Sister or Brother

Having brothers and sisters can be a wonderful thing, especially when you are a kid and can have someone to always play with and be at your side. However, there may be times in your life where you may need to ignore your sibling for one reason or another. This may be an extremely difficult thing to do, especially if you still live in the same house. Luckily there are a number of steps you can take to ignore your sibling effectively.

Steps

Evaluating the Best Course of Action

  1. Establish why you want to ignore your sibling. There are many different reasons you may want to ignore your brother or sister.
    • If you're simply busy and need to focus, be sure to explain that to your sibling and make it clear you aren't ignoring your sibling out of anger.
    • If your sibling is doing something annoying, first ask your sibling to stop.
    • If your sibling has done something to seriously wrong you, try to first resolve the conflict. If your sibling's offense is frequent or especially damaging, long-term avoidance may be your best course of action.
  2. Decide on the degree your sibling needs to be ignored. Your reason for ignoring your sibling will decide to what level you will need to take it. If your sibling has done something to wrong you, you may want to give him or her the silent treatment to get your message across. If you are just trying to focus, acknowledge your sibling whenever he or she enters the room or attempts to contact you. Just try to keep from starting a long conversation.[1]
  3. Think of alternative actions you can take. Open communication is important for all healthy relationships, including familial ones.[2] When you ignore a sibling, you are destroying the ability for you both to communicate. Explore other ways of resolving the issue by first trying to talk with your sibling. If necessary, involve your parents. If you need advice on what to do, ask a friend, counselor, therapist, or someone else you trust for help.
    • For when you're trying to concentrate, tell your sibling something like: "I really need to study for this test. Could you try being a little more quiet or move to a different room?" or "I'm sorry if I've been ignoring you lately. I have a major project coming up and need to focus."
    • For when your sibling is doing something annoying: "Clicking that pen constantly is bothering me. Could you please stop it?"
    • For when a sibling has hurt you: "I don't know if you realize this, but what you did was extremely hurtful. I need to know you understand that and won't do it again."

Ignoring a Sibling Who Lives with You

  1. Get out of the house more. If you're trying to study or work, bring your laptop or books with you to a public place. Many people go to libraries, cafes, and parks when they need to focus. If you have a car, simply driving to a parking lot or a garage can be the escape you need. If you're avoiding your sibling for other reasons, try going for walks or hanging out with friends more often. Try your best to make yourself busy outside of your home.[1]
  2. Lock your bedroom door. If you have your own bedroom, locking the door is the best way to ensure your privacy, if you're allowed to. This will cut down on any unwanted intrusions into your space. This is especially important if your sibling has a bad habit of not knocking or is too young to realize that it's the polite thing to do.
  3. Wear headphones or earplugs. This is your best option if you share a room or will be with your sibling on a long car ride. If you use headphones, just be careful not to raise the volume too loud or you may damage your ears.[3] Active noise-cancelling headphones can block out noise without the need for high volumes.
  4. Reduce stress through deep breathing exercises. Deep breathing exercises work to relax you and may be a great help if you find yourself getting angry or annoyed at your sibling. Inhale slowly through your nose while mentally counting to five. Exhale slowly through your nose. Repeat this until you're calm enough that your sibling no longer bothers you.[4][5]

Ignoring a Sibling Who Lives Apart

  1. Unfollow your sibling on social media. If you're trying to focus, stay away from social media altogether. If you are temporarily ignoring your sibling, most websites, including facebook, let you keep people's posts off of your feed without needing to unfriend them. Unfriending on social media can cause drama that strains relationships in real life. Leave that as a last resort for long-term or permanent issues.[6]
  2. Avoid answering the phone. If you see your sibling's phone number pop up when your cell phone rings, let it go to voicemail. Avoid hitting the "Silence" button, as in many cases the caller will know you did so. If your sibling leaves a message, be sure to listen as soon as possible in case of an emergency.
  3. Keep text messages brief. Unless your sibling has seriously wronged you, don't ignore text messages completely. However, you don't have to reply to them immediately. Make your own messages short and to the point.

Tips

  • Try asking your sibling why he or she is doing something annoying. If your sibling doesn't mean to bother you, try to understand where he or she is coming from. Talk with your sibling about less annoying alternatives.
  • Keep your cool by taking deep breaths or think of something to calm yourself down.
  • Don't try to fight your sibling because it will only lead to a negative outcome.
  • If your sibling copies you, let them. When someone copies you, it is usually out of admiration for you. If you stay silent, and continue on with what you're doing, your sibling won't have anything to copy and will eventually stop.
  • If your sibling messes with your stuff, don't do it back. It won't give you any satisfaction and it'll only get you into trouble.
  • Don't try to hurt your siblings because that may bring greater consequences.
  • Don't get revenge on siblings. Reduce stress by taking a walk or staying at a place without anyone besides a good friend of yours, not you siblings.
  • Just ask why he or she was mean. If they still don't listen, just chill out and go for a little early walk everything will be fine.

Warnings

  • If there are severe problems like physical violence, remember that local family counseling places are free and will help you.

Related Articles

Sources and Citations

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 http://classroom.synonym.com/keep-sister-being-annoying-12199.html
  2. ↑ https://pubs.ext.vt.edu/350/350-092/350-092.html
  3. ↑ http://www.osteopathic.org/osteopathic-health/about-your-health/health-conditions-library/general-health/Pages/headphone-safety.aspx
  4. ↑ http://www.helpguide.org/articles/stress/relaxation-techniques-for-stress-relief.htm
  5. ↑ http://psychcentral.com/blog/archives/2013/07/22/reduce-your-anxiety-this-minute-3-different-types-of-deep-breathing
  6. ↑ http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/02/06/unfriending-on-facebook_n_2631091.html
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