Do you think any kids actually LIKE to share, or is it just one of those obligatory parts of life that are force-fed to us from birth, that we never actually appreciate but do it anyways because if we don't we'll get arrested? (at least that's what we're told by our parents).
If that's the case, then sharing falls under the same category as paying taxes, cleaning litter boxes and eating vegetables.
Come one, no one actually enjoys eating vegetables.
No one actually ENJOYS sharing, either, do they?
That's not totally true. Sometimes I enjoy sharing. But I think after years of being forced to share, you force yourself to enjoy it.
I like writing in italics. And short sentences.
My two year old (it's the last day I can call him a two year old....WAAAAH!) does not appreciate sharing. Especially when the other participant in the sharing game is his baby brother. Baby brother doesn't ask first. He also makes all of his toys slimy and wet (and they seem to stay wet for DAYS. How does so much saliva come out of one little mouth?). And baby brother lunges himself off the carpet to snatch away one of Calen's toys, like a cheetah going after an antelope. Calen has no chance of defending himself. So I can't really blame him for not wanting to share.
But, it's one of those stupid life-lessons that we as parents have to instill into our
We are truly, terrible parents.
Calen has learned how to negotiate with Brother. Sometimes he'll see Cam coming, quietly hunting one of his toys like a beady-eyed carpet hunter. Calen will quickly snatch away the
See Mom, I'm sharing but I'm not ACTUALLY sharing. I win.
It doesn't always run this smoothly. More often than not Carpet Hunter Camden will head towards whatever Calen is doing, and Calen will flip his lid and shove ALL of his toys as far away from Cam as possible. Even if it's like 25 matchbox cars. He will.not.share.one.
And then Mama tells him to share and Calen gets mad.
He needs ALL 25 matchbox cars. At once. OBVIOUSLY.
Today, Calen took it to the next level. Cam was hunting Calen's monster trucks. Calen took about six monster trucks (because he needed ALL of them) and threw them in a pile on the couch. Then he laid on the couch next to them (with his blankie), closed his eyes and pretended to sleep...next to them....like a watchdog. He was so busy NOT sharing that he wasn't even playing with the monster trucks.
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| Calen "guarding" his cars from brother. Brother is about to pull himself up on the couch...and get knocked over. |
When Cam cruised the couch over near Calen, Calen pushed him over.
"NO BABIES!!!! MINES!!" (why is everything plural with him?)
Cam pulled himself back up and reached over Calen at the monster trucks. Calen pushed him again. Cam cried and Calen got in trouble.
Calen didn't see me turn my head and chuckle when he pushed him over the second time. No it wasn't really funny, but the fact that Cam wasn't giving up on the hunt and actually got back up to have another go at it made me laugh.
And then once Calen got in trouble and had to surrender ALL of his monster trucks to his brother, Cam wasn't interested anymore and resorting to playing with a storage tub.
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| Since there's nothing left to play with around here, Cam resorted to a tub |
So, who is the victor in this battle, anyways? Calen because he didn't have to share his monster trucks after all, Cam for getting ALL of Calen's monster trucks taken away (and given to him), or me for teaching Calen how to share? Hmmmmm....
In other news, it was like 500mph sustained winds today. I bought Calen a $2 kite the other day and decided today was a great day to try it out after dinner. And it flew really well (what DOESN'T fly well in 500mph winds. We probably could have attached my truck to a string and watched it fly). Calen even held the string (so did I...because randomly Calen would just let go, and the kite would have been in Delaware by the time we caught up with it). It was a fun way to end the day, especially since running back and forth wore the hell out of Calen (right before bedtime....exactly how I planned).
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| When kites attack 4. A gust of wind sent this little plastic bastard shooting down from the sky and onto my head (and tangling me up in the ribbons). Right as a took a picture. |
I think what we parents really teach the older child is to resent the younger one. No one realy 'learns' to share by being forced by parents. We learn that our parents want us to be victims. We learn to share in actuality when we find out we've hurt someone by not sharing. When our friends won't play with us because we've hurt their feelings we get it, because that would hurt us too.
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