Toddler Time: A Lesson on Sharing
Little Brother’s favorite word these days (besides “poop”) is “MINE!“. It is normally accompanied by a loud, shrieking sound before and after the actual word. Even though he has plenty of opportunities to both share and get things taken away from him (ENTER: BIG BROTHER), he is having a really hard time learning to share.
How does a vigilant mother, insistent on teaching her children how to be productive members of society (insert laugh here) respond??? With a structured lesson on sharing, that’s how!
I broke up several animal crackers (his fav) and put them in front of him at the table. I then asked him to “share with Mommy” with the intention of heaping enormous praise on him WHEN he made that decision. I’ll let you decide the outcome…
What a great video!!!!!=) That sharing thing is hard stuff to learn!;)
I thought this blog post I came upon was rather insightful! http://stevenandersonfamily.blogspot.com/2010/10/sharing-is-caring.html
I read her post as well as other things on her blog. She did have a few good points but overall her blog seems rather negative. I hate having my son get pushed over all the time because he is the only child his age who seems to know how to share but I do want him to share. Sharing is always the right way to go but is almost impossible when only one child is sharing and the others aren’t. I try to ask my son to share and not make him. If he takes something from someone else I always have him give it back and remind him that once they are done with it he will get a turn too and he is almost always ok with that and moves on to something else until the first thing is put down. When kids come up to me whinning about someone not sharing I try to tell them the same thing but I have to admit that I have given them things just to be polite even when they were being brats which is bad on my part. Kids shouldn’t get something just because they whine for it. In my toddler bible class there are boys who are awful at sharing and start screaming about wanting something my son has. I can’t stand that and I have them ask him for it. Learning better ways to communicate when kids are smaller is a big help too. Unfortunatley teaching children to be kind to one another isn’t something most parents do or else we wouldn’t have sharing issues.
love this! and after putting two kids to bed (insert screaming and crying here ….them not me) I was VERY happy to have a good laugh! Thanks Jenae!
This is too cute! And what a great idea to build in some "structured" sharing time!
I have forwarded two blog awards to your blog as I find it both really inspiring and fabulous: http://willowatsquidoo.blogspot.com/2011/05/couple-awards-to-share-fabulous.html
Thanks for SHARING this video, it was great, my daughter who is 2 1/2 will share her food with me if I ask however I brought home a graters ice cream cone to share with her she took it from me and refused to share lol I could have easily taken it back from her and gotten it back for my own purpose but I dont mind sharing with her. She is slowly learning she has a harder time sharing with other kids than anyone else.
My son Briar has no problems sharing with adults but if a kid has something he thinks is his he starts screaming. He used to just go bite them to get it back but after a few time-outs he has stopped biting thankfully.
Adorable. I’m working on that with my daughter, Sammeh, my sweet girl.
Wonderful article! I wish I had your insight on this topic and could write as well as you. I hope many people get the opportunity to enjoy this great content.
I have 28 month old twins and I have never had issues with my kids sharing with me but they are awful with each other. My kids are also good taking turns and sharing with other kids, for example at the park, but again awful with each other. Any tips? Is this normal with twins?
this is cool. im only 11 though so…
What an amazing mom, educator, and resource you have been to us. God bless abundantly :)
Wow! Thank you so much, Danny! What an encouraging comment! I truly appreciate it! :)