Did your parent ever vent to you about your sibling?

Or speak to you like you were on their side? It is heartbreaking to see so many adults living without the loving bond and closeness they should have with their siblings. Triangulation is a form of emotional manipulation that occurs when a parent pulls one child into conflict with another, often through criticism, gossip, venting, or subtle comparisons. Leaning on each child for emotional support, and validation. It creates confusion. Creates rivalry. It breeds competition. It fractures sibling bonds that were never meant to be battlegrounds. Maybe you were the one praised while your sibling was quietly torn down behind their back. Or maybe you were the child constantly criticized, while another was placed on a pedestal. Either way, you were placed in a role that was never yours to hold. It wasn't safe. It wasn't fair. And it wasn't love. In healthy families, parents don't weaponize their children against each other. They don't seek emotional comfort from their kids at the expense of someone else. They take responsibility for their own feelings, their own boundaries, and their own wounds.