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Big Kids

02nd Jan 2024

Mum shares genius ‘token’ game that has solved the issue of sibling fights

Sophie Collins

This token game is such a great idea!

If you’re a parent of two or more kids, you’ll have witnessed the arguments that kick off when it comes to deciding what to do, eat or watch.

They each have their own favourite things and when the offer of choice is put to them, they’ll battle it out over who gets their way.

One mum has come up with a genius idea which has solved this issue among her two children – she calls it the ‘1st choice token’.

She took to Reddit’s Parenting forum to share the method with others and said: “Our 2 kids (when they were about 6 & 8) used to argue over who got first dibs, who picks a movie, who gets the last candy etc. 

“We tried getting them to rock paper scissors or whatever to figure it out but it always resulted in hurt feelings and more fighting.”

This prompted them to think of a solution to the problem: “So we put in play the First Choice Token. We wrote “1st choice” in sharpie on an old poker chip. The first choice token is held by one of them. 

“If in any circumstance they don’t want to compromise or leave it to chance, they can play the first choice token to basically get dibs. Once played, the token goes to the other person. 

“They can hold the first choice token for as long as they want but once played, it’s handed over.”

After trialling their new method of dealing with the arguments, the mum confirmed: “It has solved so much fighting and has made a fun game out of it. 

“The first choice token is usually only used if one of them really, really wants dibs.”

Now, she says: “They are 12 and 14 now. One of them just used the first choice token to get the last waffle. 

“Then, immediately realised it probably wasn’t worth it since they were full halfway through eating that waffle. Still, no hard feelings and we all had a good laugh.”

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