June 5, 2013
9:00am
This morning has been interesting. Hubby has been sick, so little man (8months) and I slept on the couch sleeper sofa last night. This was more of a selfish move than a selfless move. I have a trip coming up in 4 days and did not want to be sick before leaving...hacking up a lung on the beach is not my idea of a good time.
But, the sleeper sofa is not a comfy place at all. It squeaks and every time I moved it woke little man up. His sister (almost 3) sleeps in her room in a tent, don't ask. She kept waking up for drinks of water and to pee. (At this point you would think we would understand the cycle).
All in all- last night sucked ass big time. I am exhausted and my back hurst like I am 9 months pregnant again. Rest assured, I am not.
Any-who
Little miss was playing blocks in the playroom and was playing alongside a little girl I keep who is almost 2. They have been trying to figure out how to play cooperatively (meaning interacting together) vs. playing alongside one another with no interaction. It has been an interesting experience. Both are very verbal. Hubby and I were sitting on the couch while I nursed little man and I could hear the girls beginning to get upset.
"NO NO NO NO NO"
"My blocks"
insert feet stomping
"Little miss- just share!" - Hubby
What a pat answer. The one all parents say to kids when they begin to rage over the possession of their toys. One that parents use when we are too busy doing something else and don't have/want to take the time to walk the kids through this situation. One that I am all too guilty of myself.
"You do realize they don't actually know what it means to 'just share', don't you?"-me
"..."- hubby
I detached little man from his spot on the boob and handed him over to hubby as I walked into the play room.
To say that this was an inconvenient time to walk kiddos through an emotionally charged situation (because we all know kids treat their toys like a drug lord would his dealing territory) would be an understatement.
I was in the middle of nursing an already distracted baby.
I was tired.
I needed another cup of coffee.
I got up anyway. Walking into the playroom I asked little miss what was wrong.
'She is playing with my blocks'
Little miss has decided that she wants one particular brand of blocks that it in a giant basket of blocks.
Our solution? To give our friend the other type of blocks in her own basket. I sorted them out and set them down for our friend to use. I cleared a space away from little miss where our friend can build her own wall/tower/robot/whatever the hell it is those kids build. And do you know what happened?
"Friend, come sit here with me and play."
Little Miss didn't want her friend to completely leave her space. She just needed a little separation- a little space in which to play. A little control over the situation.
Teaching a 2 and 3 year old to share is much more than teaching them the word. It is teaching them exactly what sharing looks like.
Its not forcing them to give a toy away just because someone else wants it.
Its not punishing them for wanting a toy.
It is modeling respectful language.
It is modeling respectful behavior.
It is something that requires an adults help for a while.
It is something a child should be able to say 'no' to, especially if the object in question is a favorite toy. (Because face it- if I expected you to hand over your car/cell/spouse because someone else wanted a turn with it, you would throw a bitch fit too)
Im on my 2nd cup of coffee, it's nap time, and all seems right in the world...for about 30 more minutes.
No comments:
Post a Comment