Oh Sweet Sibling Rivalry

"Bubba stop!!" 

"Bubba thats mine!"

"Bubba leave me alone!"

"Bubba do you want to play with me?" 5 seconds later "Leave my stuff alone!"

Are these common phrases you hear in your house? Bubba is our son, whose real name is Tyler. He is almost 2.5 years old and has an abundance of medical respiratory problems along with speech delay. He understands what we say mostly, but he cannot express himself.

Ever since Bubba was old enough to express himself emotionally, laughing, crying, screaming, squealing, etc. there has always been sibling rivalry in our house. This is when Mickinley's tantrums started to get worse.

Yesterday they were playing outside and I ran into the garage for something (our backyard is connected to our garage, our backyard is also fully, privately fenced in). I kind of peeked around the corner as soon as I heard her scream "BUBBA!" She wanted him to get into the wagon with her play dolls but he didn't want to. She kept screaming at him for at least 3 minutes to get into the wagon when she finally had enough and threw her dolls at him. In return he grabbed the doll and ran. That resulted in a mess because she was so angry that she ended up smacking him three times in the shoulder. This resulted in both of them not allowing to play outside. Bubba turned his sadness and angry around and played with his toys inside. Mickinley threw a tantrum for about 25 minutes before settling down and acting like nothing happen. We made her clean her room as a consequence and she ended up doing it but it took her a long time to get it done. 

Her therapist is going to start coping skills next time we see her, which I am excited about because I think its something that is really going to help her with her tantrums.

I am trying my best to not scream at her as it doesn't help and I know she is not comprehending while she is in her tantrum, so I think maybe her coping skills may also help me and I could learn from her as well. There are times in the day where I tell her "Wow Mickinley, you are being excellent let's continue it" and 10 minutes later she is throwing a tantrum.

Her medication helps her hyperness but I think her underlying mood/bipolar tendencies still come out and get the best of her. We are still learning, this is all new to us as well.