“My turn, mine, no, mine. I was first, no, I was.”
This is the background to my life at the moment.
Having two children so close together is great because they like all the same things – but it is also challenging because they like all the same things…at the same time.
Sometimes it’s over the Ipad, sometimes it’s over who goes first on the little remote control car we got my son for his birthday, but it’s always the same refrain.
“I wanna go first”
So recently, in a moment of rare clarity, I announced: “whoever goes second gets longer”. Cue shocked faces, then a few moments of them considering the bombshell I had just dropped and then my daughter decided to opt in. She was delighted with herself for getting longer, my son felt vindicated that being first was good enough for him and I stood open-mouthed that it actually worked.
You can apply it to loads of different scenarios – but basically whoever is prepared to wait gets a little bonus. I feel like it is teaching them to negotiate and teaches them the lesson that patience pays off.
My pair are five and six so they haven’t really mastered the essence of time which is a real plus so it is never actually measured.
I told a friend recently and she told me it had been life-changing.
No method is foolproof but the simple words ‘second gets longer’ gives you just one more tool in your mummy arsenal.
Try it and let us know if it works!
