Schuyler

>
> When both of my kids want the front seat in the van and we sit in the
> driveway, my input is "let's figure out something that works for
> everyone". Yeah, sometimes one person has to wait, but its
> interesting to hear their negotiations. "I know, I'll sit in back now
> but I get it on the way home ok?" or "you got to sit here yesterday,
> so can I have it first today?"

Today I set up the Wii so that we could use it to explore the internet.
Right now Simon and Linnaea are watching youtube.com via the Wii, and having
a blast. But there was a minor issue over playing adventure quest rpg on the
wii; Linnaea was playing and Simon wanted to. Simon got really upset, and
curled up in a ball on the floor. I offered to let him use my computer,
asked Linnaea if she could tell him when she'd be done. Linnaea offered him
the game. It was amazing to watch this 7 year old girl be willing to give up
what she was doing to help her big brother feel better. He didn't want it by
then, he'd gotten to upset. He lay down for a while until he decided that a
chocolate ice cream would make many things better. And it did. I am so
impressed with how much they are willing to work with each other to move
through limitations, like only one wii, only one front seat, what show to
watch. And that comes because David and I are willing to help them work
through things. It comes because it feels much nicer to help someone have a
good time with you, than to have both of you feel miserable and angry on
your own. I didn't know that until much, much later in life.

Schuyler
www.waynforth.blogspot.com