Yep, we are in that stage.  The one where one toy becomes the affection of two kids who happen to want it at the exact same time.

“My toy!  It’s mine!  I got it from Christmas!”

“No!  Me toy.  Me toy.  Meeee toy!”

It used to be the littlest one would not care if/when the biggest one would take a toy.  She would just happily find another one and life would be peachy.

Not anymore.

Why is it that one toy, old and falling apart and largely ignored, can all the sudden be the most sought after and adored object of affection between two strong-willed little people?

So, I do what any brilliant mother would do; I set the kitchen microwave timer for 3 minutes.

“Little Child, you may play with the toy, old and falling apart and largely ignored, for three minutes.  When the timer goes off, you give it to Bigger Child, okay?

“Okay Mama.”

Little Child runs off with the object of her affection with a gleeful look of victory while Momma consuls Bigger Child and says, “Don’t worry sweetie, you’ll have a turn before you know it.”

And, before you know it, Little Child has dropped the old and falling apart and largely ignored toy to scoop up the next object of her affection.

Beep Beep Beep.

“Okay, Bigger Child, it’s your turn for the toy, old and falling apart and largely ignored.”

Bigger Child has already found a new object of his affection and no longer cares about the former.

So, the microwave timer solves the problem again.  It turns the most wanted toy into an ordinary object again and all the wrongs of the world have been made right again.

Now I’m just trying to imagine how the microwave timer can solve the rest of the world’s problems.

And So It Begins!

www.andsoitbegins.org