Sharing

Here is my daughter listening to Banana Phone on my computer. See her? She's sitting on her MagnaDoodle, lest anyone try to use it while she's doing something else. At two, kids get so possessive! With really hard work, you can teach them to share, but it doesn't come naturally. Of course not! I remember being a kid, and my mom making me share some plastic baby bottles I had. It was a set of eight, with a little holder to put them in. A little girl came to visit, and my mom told me to give her a couple. Umm... no? Fine. If I didn't share them, she could have them all. Well, let me tell ya. I looked at that little carousel of baby bottles, and I thought, "But they're mine. And they're a set. And they won't be this very awesome set if I give a couple away." Well, I thought something very like that. I clearly remember the feeling. So the little girl went away with a carousel of eight baby bottles, and I stood on my moral ground.

Now, that's not how I grew up, of course. I'd share anything but my husband now. If people have less than me, gee, just say so, and I'm all over the sharing. Our house has been a landing place for displaced family members for years, until finally everyone else realized we'd run out of spare bedrooms. I liked it. The bigger the family commune, the better. But I think it all started when I was about two.... heh. So I suppose I should have slung her offa that MagnaDoodle, but I'm on my third child and tired. I let it slide. I'm feeling properly chastised, and will continue on with the teaching today.