Share and Share Alike

Observing Siena playing with her peers, I've realized that, to a two-year-old, "sharing" looks an awful lot like "giving stuff away." It's not easy to get toddlers to trust that others will return what you give them. So I was particularly pleased with what I saw the other day.

I'm giving Siena her bath, and she's plaing with a couple of plastic cups, pouring water in and out of them. Nerd that I am, I take the opportunity to practice counting. I hold one cup, she holds another, and I ask her how many cups she has. She correctly counted "One!" She also correctly counted the one cup in Daddy's hand. Then I gave her my cup, asked her how many she had, and she answered "One, Two!"

Then I asked her how many cups Daddy had. No answer. I said "None." A pout formed on Siena's face. She quickly gave Daddy one of her cups.

The concept of Zero isn't easy to understand. For now, I'll be happy with Siena learning a little more about the concept of sharing.