My daughter came home from school feeling sad. She had gotten herself into some personal drama, and though things had turned out okay, she was shaken.
She was playing with a toy. A girl (Girl 1) in her class asked for it. When my daughter did not give the toy up promptly, Girl 1 called my daughter mean. This taunt made my daughter even less inclined to give the toy up.
Then another girl (Girl 2) asked for the toy. My daughter feared Girl 2’s wrath. She gave up the toy. Gril 1 saw that Girl 2 had the toy, and they began to fight. My daughter saw the conflict as her fault.
Fortunately, Girl 1 and Girl 2 figure out how to share the toy.
“If you had to do it all over again,” I asked my daughter, “what would you do?”
“Give Girl 1 the toy!” she said quickly.
She’s learning.
Learning Together 