MINE!
Colin is really amazingly good about sharing.
At school he'll walk over, pick up a toy, and hand it to his friends. At home he'll search out Sydney's toys, then find the dog and hand Sydney her ball. He'll demand more "puffs" (a favorite food), and will eat one, then feed the next one to Sydney. Colin is an unusually generous little guy.
Until now.
Colin has been sitting on the bottom stair a lot lately, since it is the perfect size "bench" for him. H noticed this and decided we should go out and get him a chair or bench of his own. Something that is the right size for a little guy. We headed to Toys R Us, and Colin selected a fire-truck "sofa" that also folds out into a bed/play area. We showed him a lot of other options (chairs, other sofas, different themes) but he kept going back to this one. And the fact that it cost about half of what they were charging for the Toy Story or Cars versions was just a bonus. Hooray!
We left it in the car the first night, as I wanted to straighten up the house a bit before bringing in any new furniture. The next morning when I got home from the gym I vacuumed, straightened up, then we brought it in. Colin was overjoyed - literally. He ran over, sat down, and didn't move. He didn't talk, or play, or do anything - just sat there (I swear!) looking eerily like Archie Bunker!
He next decided to use the sofa as a stepstool to climb onto the other furniture, which was kinda cute but to dangerous for our taste so we moved it to the middle of the floor.
All was well and good until Colin left the room, then came back to find Seamus laying on the sofa. It is toddler sized, which means it also happens to be exactly the right size for a kitty. Seamus looked so happy, but Colin took one look at the situation, ran over, and sat down. Half on the cat. Poor Seamus ran off looking perplexed and offended. I scolded Colin, but thought it was just an accident.
Until later.
That afternoon Colin had the sofa open and was playing on it. He left the room and when he came back Sydney, his best friend, was laying on there looking thrilled. A nice cushy bed? WOO HOO! Well, Colin ran over and sat next to her. Right next to her. How cute - awww! I ran to grab my camera, and came back to try and capture the adorable moment of my son and his pal Sydney sharing a cushion. Unfortunately what I saw was a nasty little brat who tried to shove and slap the dog away. He wanted that thing all to himself. All I could think was that we had hit the horrible "MINE" phase. *sigh* So much for my incredibly generous sharing little guy.
I couldn't believe what I was seeing. I yelled at Colin (NOT NICE!) and took him away from the sofa, letting Sydney try it out again. H didn't believe me, so when he got home from tennis I let things go and we were horrified to see it happen again. Colin got yelled at followed by his first time-out. Then H went and sat on the sofa, and cuddled with Sydney.
Colin looked perplexed and not very happy about the situation. What were daddy and doggy doing on HIS sofa? When H got up I took Colin's sofa and placed it out of reach, on top of the armoire. It is only going to come down in limited doses, for supervised usage, with Daddy helping Colin learn to share nicely. Wonder how long this lesson will take?
In case you're wondering, Sydney was a complete angel through the whole thing. She was confused when Colin was being mean, and just ran away. Don't worry - she got lots of extra attention and treats after Mr. Naughty had gone to bed! And going forward Colin is going to learn without a doubt (and in a very controlled environment) that he must always-always-always be nice to Sydney and Seamus.
At school he'll walk over, pick up a toy, and hand it to his friends. At home he'll search out Sydney's toys, then find the dog and hand Sydney her ball. He'll demand more "puffs" (a favorite food), and will eat one, then feed the next one to Sydney. Colin is an unusually generous little guy.
Until now.
We left it in the car the first night, as I wanted to straighten up the house a bit before bringing in any new furniture. The next morning when I got home from the gym I vacuumed, straightened up, then we brought it in. Colin was overjoyed - literally. He ran over, sat down, and didn't move. He didn't talk, or play, or do anything - just sat there (I swear!) looking eerily like Archie Bunker!
He next decided to use the sofa as a stepstool to climb onto the other furniture, which was kinda cute but to dangerous for our taste so we moved it to the middle of the floor.
All was well and good until Colin left the room, then came back to find Seamus laying on the sofa. It is toddler sized, which means it also happens to be exactly the right size for a kitty. Seamus looked so happy, but Colin took one look at the situation, ran over, and sat down. Half on the cat. Poor Seamus ran off looking perplexed and offended. I scolded Colin, but thought it was just an accident.
Until later.
That afternoon Colin had the sofa open and was playing on it. He left the room and when he came back Sydney, his best friend, was laying on there looking thrilled. A nice cushy bed? WOO HOO! Well, Colin ran over and sat next to her. Right next to her. How cute - awww! I ran to grab my camera, and came back to try and capture the adorable moment of my son and his pal Sydney sharing a cushion. Unfortunately what I saw was a nasty little brat who tried to shove and slap the dog away. He wanted that thing all to himself. All I could think was that we had hit the horrible "MINE" phase. *sigh* So much for my incredibly generous sharing little guy.
I couldn't believe what I was seeing. I yelled at Colin (NOT NICE!) and took him away from the sofa, letting Sydney try it out again. H didn't believe me, so when he got home from tennis I let things go and we were horrified to see it happen again. Colin got yelled at followed by his first time-out. Then H went and sat on the sofa, and cuddled with Sydney.
Colin looked perplexed and not very happy about the situation. What were daddy and doggy doing on HIS sofa? When H got up I took Colin's sofa and placed it out of reach, on top of the armoire. It is only going to come down in limited doses, for supervised usage, with Daddy helping Colin learn to share nicely. Wonder how long this lesson will take?
In case you're wondering, Sydney was a complete angel through the whole thing. She was confused when Colin was being mean, and just ran away. Don't worry - she got lots of extra attention and treats after Mr. Naughty had gone to bed! And going forward Colin is going to learn without a doubt (and in a very controlled environment) that he must always-always-always be nice to Sydney and Seamus.
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