So, I was talking to Cooper today about sharing.  Made me wonder how others "teach" sharing. 

Is there lots of drama when you do it?  Is there a reward if its done?  What age do expect your dc to be able to understand sharing?

For me, ds#1 shares pretty well.  I started rewarding him at one point, and then it got out of hand.  He would share even when ds#2 didn't want to play with him.    and then turn around and tell me that he shared and he got a "special treat".  See, in my house, a special treat is one single M 'n M.  Somehow, I got ds#1 to forget about the special treat. 

Anyhow, I'm not sure if I should expect ds#1 to be able to share well all the time.  He is almost 3.5 yrs old, and I *know* he understands the concept, but could it be that he just wants to be left alone with his single toy?  I mean, we as adults have a hard time sharing once in awhile, right?  (This is where I am imagining my favorite bowl of ice cream and don't want to share with anyone! ---  I LOVE ice cream...hahaha)

So, what do you do?  How do you handle things when your dc doesn't want to share and dc blows up?

Thanks  :)

My DS1 is also 3.5 years old and we started doing the sharing thing early on--we used "taking turns" in the beginning since sharing isn't an easy concept to grasp, but taking turns is.  When other kids come over to play, I prep DS1 ahead of time and say something to the effect of:  these kids are coming over to our house and they aren't bringing any of their toys. You'll need to share your toys with them so they have something to play with.  If he has a toy he doesn't want to share, I tell him to take it to his room.

This usually works pretty well, although I have to remind him now and again, "remember what we talked about, these kids didn't bring any of their toys to play with."  When he was a little younger, and he and a kid would fight over a toy, I would say, (when the "turns" things wasn't happening) "if you cannot play nicely with this toy, I will take it away."  Usually DS1 would say, okay, X can play with it.  Of course I did (and still do) have to remind DS1 that none of his toys will leave our house--no kid will take any of it home.  That seems to help, too.

When DS wants to play with another kid's toy at their house, and they don't want to share, I tell DS1, that toy belongs to X and he doesn't want to share, can you find something else?

Usually, this keeps the crazy blow-up tantrums non-existant. 

I do the taking turns too.  We've been doing playgroups since ds#1 was 3 months old.  Still the same group of kids too  :)  Sharing and taking turns is also reinforced at ds' school.

I just wonder if there is something else out there, where kids just don't "blow" up.  KWIM?  Sometimes, ds is totally fine with sharing and does it without having to talk to him about, and once in awhile sharing just seems sooooo foreign to him.  And it totally puzzles me when he just doesn't know how to take turns or share, or should I say, doesn't want to.

Right now, I am really struggling with ds#1 wanting what others have, and just grabs it.  Ds#2 is really really laid back.  If he is playing with something, and ds#1 thinks he is having more fun than him, he will go there and grab it.  DRIVES ME UP THE WALL!  This can happen like 5 times within 5 minutes.  Because when this happens, ds#2 will usually just get up and go get a different toy, and ds#1 follows.  

Anyhow, I've been trying to work on the above "issue", but never know when ds#1 decides that he feels this way or is being his normal self.

OK....all done "venting"...hahaha.

Thanks for reading.