The Magster Wins Again!

For her birthday, we gave La Nina a Leapster. She'd seen one at a friends house, loved it and the other Mom gave it good reviews, so we got her one. Little did we know the mayhem it would bring to our house.

While La Nina likes the Leapster, the Magster loves it. For the past 10 days, the Magster has gotten up in the morning, found the game and started playing before I'd finished making the coffee. I have to shut it off to get her to eat. She regularly walks into walls because her head is bent in concentration over the game. She can pause it, navigate it to home, use the stylus or key pad....frankly, she's teaching La Nina how to use the thing. Of course the problem was it belonged to La Nina

Needless to say, it annoyed La Nina that she had to ask her sister for a turn whenever she wanted to use it. I can't say that I blame her. Maggie was annoying me too. And if ever she wrestled the toy away from her sister, Maggie would be whining for a turn within minutes.

If you've been following this blog for awhile, then you've read my tales of Maggie's persistence. The kid has the tenacity of a NFL Lineman. She just doesn't stop. I'd try to distract her to let La Nina play without her sister breathing down her neck, but it didn't work. If La Nina left the toy for a split second the Magster would swoop in, scoop up the toy and hide herself under the table to play with it.

So, when the girls were fighting this morning before 8am over this toy, I made a decision. They were going to have to learn to share. I sat them both down, I explained why their behavior was bad, I told Maggie she needed to let her sister play with the toy, then I asked her if she understood.

"Yes, Mama....but I want ittt....."

To which her sister countered, "NOOOOOO, it's mine."

It forced a moment of clarity for me, this toy was driving me nuts. I was faced with a moral dilemma. Get a second Leapster for the crazy child or force the kids to learn a lesson. I decided, the lesson was the high road. So, I decided to solve the problem and I gave the Leapster a time out. I took it away from them until they agreed to share and they sat outside the toy time out closet all morning waiting to get it back. My hallway looked like Sproul Hall on a warm Spring Day. Around noon they made a half hearted promise to share, by one they were fighting again.

Fast forward to this afternoon. I'm in Target. The solution to my problems is staring me in the face for $50. But wouldn't that be rewarding the wrong behavior? Wouldn't I be devaluing La Nina's gift if I just gave a Leapster to her sister? Should I live up to my own parenting ideals or did I sell my soul for $50? I pondered all of this in the toy section of Target. Pathetic I know.

You know, a woman I know once told me she did her best parenting when she wasn't a parent. And I'd have to agree, but you know what, tonight our quiet evening was punctuated with electronic beeps and the girls were learning about sharing through the cartridges.