Sharing

I've learned a lot about sharing this week. My 3 year-old has a hard time sharing toys at playgroup. He wants toys that other kids have and doesn't want to give up what he's got. It is so much work to constantly ask him to share. At one point this week I was about to give up. I was tired - of hearing my own voice say the same thing repeatedly to deaf ears. I wanted to go home, stick my son in front of the TV and have a nap. But that wouldn't have been the right thing to do. So with some help from other moms, I stayed. Afterward we had lunch together and then things were going so well, I invited everyone back to my house! Well... all of a sudden we were back to the sharing battle. I was too tired of fighting to be creative and when everyone went home, I crashed!
It's such a struggle to figure out what's better - stay home and be peaceful, but isolated, or go out and teach my kids (with a lot of effort) how to interact with the world. I guess a little of both. I can't stay home all the time and I can't go out all the time. It's always better to have help so weekends are a good time to go out.
This weekend we went to the Max & Ruby show at Saint John High school. I was quite disappointed with the show. Not at all worth the money. On the way home I found 2 suckers in my purse leftover from a restaurant outing and gave them to my son and his friend to keep them awake for the trip home. Of course, they both wanted the same colour, but the other boy graciously accept the other and we were on our way. At one point I looked back to check on the kids to see my son trying to get his toe into his baby sister's mouth. Once he removed it, I noticed the baby's mouth and tongue were blue! Before panicking I asked the nearest preschooler (my son) if he'd shared his sucker with her. He smiled and was quite proud of himself for sharing. hmmm... so now I have to remind myself to clearly define which items to share. This is getting complicated.