Conversations with Kayla and Kari

 ...Regarding sharing, charitable acts, and good deeds.

Kayla found kari's new crayon pack and started to try to open it while Kari was struggling to put on her shoes.  On the floor Kari, with raised teary voice, demanded it back, became agitated and started to cry.  I asked her, "aren't you two sisters, and shouldn't you share anyway, be kind and caring to each other?"  She replied, nodding her head as tears dripped down her cheeks, "Yes, we are sisters, and YES we should share, but that is MINE, and *I* will share with her!!"  I got the point, the emphatic "I", loud and clear, made sense to me somehow.   She got her crayon back, but was angry that Kayla had tore it slightly trying to open it.  She said regrettably,  "see you tore it. Now I have to go buy me a new one!"

They couldn't find their bath toys, since I had put them away when they went on their trip.  Kayla was so sad that her face changed instantly and her eyes swelled up with giant tears.   I brought her toys back out, and joy and color flushed back into her little face. 

At night time, we sat around a circle having cheerios and cocoa puffs.  We talked about things like three old friends catching up.  Kayla told me that she was upset because she thought that I had dumped all her toys into the trash pile.  She furthered admitted to fake crying earlier by the bathtub.  She educated me on the reality of toddlers, "sometimes my cry is real, and sometimes it's just fake! And that one earlier was fake..."  Ahhh.....that was some real good acting skills I must say.  

I asked the girls if I should give away their bath toys.  I explained to them that not every kid is as lucky as them to have toys to play with, or money to buy books.  Kayla propped her face in her arm to the floor immediately buying time as she gave it some thoughts.   Kari stayed quiet for a moment, seriously contemplating the idea.  

Then she said calmly, "And some children don't have money to buy a house to live in...."  

"True! True..." I replied, nodding my head emphatically.

"So how about we let them live in our house with us?!..........This way they also get to play our toys, right?!"

Little Problem Solver, a good one.