Lessons in Sharing

As I mentioned in a previous post, Cai is rolling across the room. Well this, of course, means he is getting into all sorts of new things around the house. One of which is his brother's toys that are left on the floor. Now Ian is pretty good at sharing his toys with other kids his age. When we host music group or have his friends over for other occasions he is usually very good about asking to trade if someone is playing with a toy he wants or taking turns. But with Cai it is the end of the whole if Cai even attempts to grab one of his toys. Even toys that are safe for Cai to play/chew on Ian gets irate. Yelling "No, Cai! No chew on that!" I think I brought this on myself. For the last 6 months, I've been telling Ian that Cai is too little to play with many of his toys. But of course now that he is older some of them are perfectly safe. So I think Ian is trying to both save his toys and his brother. I wonder too if Ian has this idea as to how certain toys are to be played with. Like bowls and pans from his kitchen are for mixing, cooking and eating. Cai just wants to chew and mouth them. He's not going to harm the toy by doing this, but it's not the way you play with it. Or at least not to Ian. The last couple of days I feel like I'm constantly telling Ian three things. One: "If you don't want Cai to play with it, put it away where he can't get it." Two: "Ian don't take toys from Cai. He can play with that." Three: "Ian you need to either give that toy back or find one to give Cai instead." It's a mess. But hopefully Ian will realize sometime soon that there are things he can and needs to learn to share with his brother. Oh the joys of toddlers. And of mobile babies. :)