Everyday we, as parents, try to teach our children valuable life lessons.
Eat your vegetables.
It's not ok to hit.
Brush your teeth.
Right now in our home, the lesson we're focusing on is sharing. Nathan has suddenly become very territorial which has lead to many awkward encounters with other kids at the playground, at the library, or on a playdate. God forbid another child comes within a 6 inch radius of a toy he's playing with and all hell breaks loose! Will and I have been telling him over and over "You need to share with your friends.", "Let someone else have a turn", "Why don't you play with that together?", etc.
Recently while playing with one of his best friends here in Boston, her mother and I noticed the kids kept offering one another their sippy cups. Our initial reaction was to be proud of them but instead of encouraging them and telling them how good they were sharing, we immediately started telling them "No, that's not yours."
I guess the real lesson we should be teaching them is You can share toys but you can't share cups."
Man, it must be confusing to be a toddler.
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