Driving Us Crazy

Driving back from Hadrian's Wall and Hexham was its own adventure. Things started out well until we pulled out blankets for the kids and tried to convince them to go to sleep.

Lucy decided she really wanted Jacob's blanket, even though she had her own. She kept asking again and again and louder and louder, "I WANT JACOB'S BLANKET!!!" She continued for a good half hour.

We asked Jacob if he would trade blankets with her. Neither of them were interested in that. We asked Jacob if they could share the blanket. Jacob was okay with that. Lucy was completely unsatisfied with that. She kept shouting that she wanted the blanket. So we gave it back to Jacob for a while. She continued to ask, sometimes in a whiny way, sometimes in a faux cute way. She was so persistent that Jacob finally gave up and let her have the blanket.

Which she promptly threw to the floor of the car! So we gave the blanket back to Jacob, starting another round of "I WANT JACOB'S BLANKET!!!" We were firm that if she didn't want to use it she couldn't just keep it from Jacob.

Jacob has become very aware of this trick of Lucy's, i.e. wanting something just for the sake of having it. If she asks him for something he is playing with (which is quite often), he will respond with something like, "Are you going to play with it always and never let me have it back and keep playing with it?" She inevitable answers "Yes" to such a lawyerly and confusing question. Jacob then goes to the nearest parent and says, "Lucy wants to take my toy and keep it forever and never share and I can never play with it again." Considering the emphasis we've put on sharing and taking turns, I'm sure he thinks this is a devastating blow to her request. We typically counter with "Lucy can play with it for five minutes and then she has to give it back." Since her attention span is currently four minutes (unless she is watching a video), this works out nicely. When Jacob has something for five more minutes till it's Lucy's turn, he'll often give it to her early. She'll happily walk away and he'll start playing with whatever she was playing with. But I digress.

They did eventually settle down for the last half of the ride. Jacob is showing a lot more understanding of Lucy and what she wants and even recognizing that what she asks for doesn't always make sense. Is he actually understanding others better? For her part, Lucy is still at the stage where it's all about her. I'm sure she'll outgrow it. They've been getting along since the trip with only occasional flare ups over toys. The adventures continue.