I Get First Plate!

Boys really are competitive by nature. It is amazing at just how much of life becomes a contest, with one trying to outdo all of the others. As the boys inch older and older, I realize this more and more.

While this competition is natural, that doesn't mean that it cannot sometimes get on a mother's nerves a little bit. After all, when every little menial task becomes such a "high stakes" game (to them), it causes argument that Mom has to then help handle. It can be tiring. What's more, is that it is hard for Mom to understand just why it is so important that Nicholas's sand castle is bigger than Brennan's. At least important enough to escalate into a fight over it, anyway.

I have decided that his trait can be put to good use. Case in point, what Mom also has trouble getting little boys to wash up and come to the dinner table? Not just me? Each boy always wants the first plate, usually breaking out into a chorus of "I get first plate" followed by "I get first plate", at which the 2 year old must also join in "No, I get first plate!". Well, I have instituted a rule that states whoever is washed and quietly in their chair first gets first plate. This has been remarkably effective.

Then there is the bragging over "who got the first plate". I guess our next lesson should be one in humility!