A couple of days ago I took O shopping for a few odds & ends things for her birthday party before we went to go pick Lboy up from school. I found the cutest Minnie doll & decided to get it for her as a birthday gift & let her hold onto it.
After we got Lboy loaded up in his seat, we hit the highway to get home. At mile 5 I started hearing shouts coming from the back seat.
“MOOOOOM!!!! Make O share the Minnie Mouse doll! She’s being rude, I want a turn!”
“NOOOOOOOOOOOO!” (O screaming back at him because she knew what he was asking.)
“MOOOOM! Give it to me!”
“NOOOO!!!!”
To be honest, I was completely stumped on how to handle the situation. For one thing, I was driving 70 mph down the freeway & wasn’t about to wrestle a toy away from an angry toddler & risk a car accident. For another, the doll is hers & she had it first. BUT, Lboy had shared his book bag full of fun school stuff with her, so it’s probably fair that she share the doll. On top of that, she’s getting older &Â we have entered an entirely new realm of parenting. O is definitely not a baby anymore and has to be “parented” differently than she was as a one year old. It’s time to learn manners, no hitting, sharing, & anything else that comes up.
This goes on for a few miles & I was finally done with the whole thing. Told them both that neither of them could have it & as soon as I got to a place where I could pull over I was going to take it & keep until they could both share it & be nice. They were instantly quiet (why is threatening to pull the car over so frightening to kids?! It always was to us growing up too.)Â They finally resolved the issue with the silly Minnie doll themselves before I could pull over.
Quite frankly, Lboy just wanted it because O had it, O only wanted it because Lboy wanted it. The Minnie Doll is now safely tucked away in my closet & soon to be wrapped for Saturday’s party. I honestly don’t know how my mom wrangled 5 of us, especially when we were arguing over the silliest things.Â
We finally made it home & Lboy asked for cartoons. He was adamant that we make sure O get to watch a Minnie Mouse cartoon…. 18 miles of arguing over who got to hold the Minnie doll & less than 5 minutes at home they’re taking care of each other. Isn’t that a typical sibling relationship?
How has parenting changed as your kids have gotten older?
I use that threat a lot… it always works and I have no idea why.
I honestly have no idea either! Works like a charm every.single.time.