I take D to many playgroups. It's a lot of fun to put several toddlers in a room and see what happens. They all want the same toy the one kid discovered. The host often shares how her kid had never shown interest in that toy before, too! Some mothers work very hard to get their kid to share. I have witnessed toddlers get into a complete tug of war over a toy, screaming and shouting. Sometimes, we moms have also had to get into the tug of war to separate the screaming kids. This is an age where they don't understand the concept of sharing.
And yet we try place such importance to it. We keep trying, failing miserably. Once they learnt to share, we forget about how important this skill is in the world. It seems so trivial, a small thing. But if you see the numerous problems with the world today, it comes down to being unable to share.
Watching the news often makes me realise that not much has changed since toddlerhood.
Last week, I was home, and so watched the Republican Presidential candidates give their speeches at CPAC. I am not a conservative. But it's good to hear what the other side thinks. Additionally, I have low blood pressure and since their no cure for that except for adding salt to my food, this was a good solution. So, I listened.
At one point, Santorum made a claim that "climate change is a leftist scientific conspiracy to destroy America!" And he went on about this group uses the conservatives' sentimentality of being good stewards of this earth to gain power. I nearly fell out of my chair. Where has he lived in the last three decades? He referred to the positive correlation between energy consumption and standard of living and therefore we need to stop the "no-growth environmental radicalism".
hmmm... when people make such claims, there really is no way to argue. It leaves no room for a discussion. So, I return to the room this morning where D was enjoying her weekly music and movement class, filled with wild crazy toddlers in a room with lots of colourful balls and two small slides.
The two small slides required them to climb up the two steps and slide down and take turns. Some toddlers played with the colouful balls and quite a few were more excited about the slides. D was excited to crawl up the slide and slide down. We had to teach her that she had to climb up the stairs, slide, then get back of the line and go her turn. So, once she figured that out, everyone was happy!
As adults we also want the same "toy" - a comfortable life, with a house, car, running water, good health, the latest gadgets, and other consumables. But we live in a world where the resources are limited. So, we should relearn what our parents so painstakingly taught us - to share!
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