Good Times

Eli amazes me almost every week with his ability to share with and care for his sister. While kids so close together tend to be best friends and worst enemies, all at the same time, we honestly have not seen much of the latter between the two ankle-biters. Maddux would pretty much lay down her life for her older brother; she shares before he even asks her to. And if he gets hurt, she is the first to run over and pat him on the back or give him a hug. Eli doesn't always reciprocate though. He's not necessarily mean to her, but he doesn't share as freely as one would hope. When he complains about her not sharing (which means he has seen that she has a toy he wants and he's asked her for it once only to have her deny him), I remind him that the best way to teach someone how to share is to share with them. I think it's finally catching on because this week he has shared a lot more than normal. Not in big ways, but in small little, hard-to-see ways. Today was the best by far. Maddie and I picked Eli up from school and found out he'd had a class birthday party. One of the little girls turned four and brought in gift bags and cupcakes. (I was SO happy to find out that the gift bags included pencils, erasers, stickers, stamps, bouncy balls and balloons. NO candy. And Eli loved pulling each 'toy' out and learning what it was way more than he's enjoyed seeing a bunch of sugar in the bag.) As we drove home, Eli opened his bag and started passing out the gifts. He gave me the pencil so I could 'write stuff' and he handed Maddux the kitty cat eraser. I didn't ask him to do this (I actually though he was entitled to the goodies)....he did it all on his own and BEFORE he picked out the things he'd keep. Maddux's face lit up like I've never seen it when he handed her that eraser. It was so precious. She immediately said, "Pank-ou!!"

Maddux received her own toy electric guitar this week. It is pink and white and plays "Girls Just Want to Have Fun". Eli loves it. Of course. Especially since his guitar has a corroded battery 'area' and does not play music any more. Maddux has been more than generous with her new guitar and Eli has eaten up every moment of it. I remind him constantly that it is hers and until today, he's been pretty good about acknowledging that. However, before naps he got a bit high and mighty and refused to allow Maddux a turn on the guitar (HER guitar). I told him he was not allowed to use it for the rest of the day as a consequence. Before bed we were doing our usual song and dance routine and Eli asked to play with the guitar. Of course Maddux moved to get it for him, but I reminded him he had lost his privileges. We talked about sharing and how it's important to have a sharing heart. A few minutes later, he offered Maddux his guitar (a less superior one, but his guitar all the same). Even though he knew he wasn't going to be able to use hers, he still shared. And Maddie immediately started to hand him her guitar. I made sure Eli was aware that his act of sharing had caused her to want to share too. Warm and fuzzy feelings followed for everyone. Group hug.