Thursday, March 27, 2008

Be specific. Very specific.


We have a basic rule in our house about stealing toys from one's sibling: you don't do it. Matthew is learning to abide by this rule quite well, though of course Nolan's status as an infant precludes him from understanding this concept. When Nolan steals one of Matt's toys (out of Matthew's hands), then Matthew is allowed to "trade" Nolan a different toy in exchange for the one that Nolan snagged. *On a side note, I'm rather impressed that my 7 month old can actually get a toy away from my two year old!

The other day, Nolan grabbed a toy train out of Matthew's hands. Matthew was upset and ran to me (I was folding laundry). I told him to trade Nolan a toy for the toy train. Matthew happily ran off with this solution to his problem of being train-less.

I came into the family room and Nolan was quite marked up. Apparently, Matthew doesn't quite understand what the category of "toy" includes. Bic pens are a perfectly acceptable "toy" to trade. After this little incident, I will not only be more specific in my instructions, but I will also be present to supervise said trading!

I win "stupid parent of the year award" on this one. Luckily it was only a Bic pen and not a choking hazard!!

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