Punishments can include the following. You can use any or all of these suggestions and come up with some of your own, but make sure the punishment fits the crime.
(1) Give each child a timeout. Make sure you make the timeout age appropriate for your child.
(2) Withhold privileges. If your child wants to watch an extra hour of a special television program, you can deny her that opportunity as a punishment for inappropriate behavior. Be sure you tell her why you aren't allowing her to watch it, however. The punishment won't work if she doesn't understand what it is for!
(3) Limit your child's activities. If your child loves video games, you may need to ground him from playing them for a day or two. When you take something from him that is close to his heart, he just might listen!
Rewards
Just as punishments are often necessary, rewards are essential if you want to
emphasize good behavior.
(1) Praise your children when they work problems out by themselves. Give them an extra treat to show you recognize what they are doing.
(2) Make each child feel special by allowing them to do special things, such as choosing the family movie or picking the restaurant for the night.
(3) Children love stickers, so when you see good behavior out of your children, give them a sticker on their good behavior chart. Once they've accumulated so many stickers, they can trade them in for a toy, video or computer game, movie, or an ice cream or candy treat.
You probably can't stop your children from fussing occasionally, but you can teach them how to handle conflicts by treating each other with respect. Hopefully, as they grow and mature, they will find that they have more in common with each other, and they will forge a deeper bond that will follow them throughout their lives. In the meantime, manage their disagreements by giving them consistent consequences, and reinforce their good behavior with plenty of praise.