Sharing is nice

Sharing is nice isn't it?  It makes the other person feel good and it is just a nice thing to do.  Except sharing food with strangers, now that is just weird.  I really try to acknowledge when my kids share.  I want them to know that it is a nice thing to do.  Especially with each other.  Plus, it would make for a quieter household if they would share instead of fighting over toys, books, etc.

Sometimes you just don't want to share though.  You want to have something all to yourself.  Well, I will admit that is how I felt this morning.  Very rarely do I get to eat my own food anymore.  I have to share with someone.  Most of the time I don't care, but this morning I did.  You see, I am trying to watch what I eat so what that means is that I don't have nearly as much food.   Obviously when you don't have as much food you want to eat ever morsel.  You are almost ravenous.  I wasn't quiet ravenous this morning, but I was really looking forward to my breakfast.  I had scrambled eggs with sauteed red pepper and mushroom and a fresh grapefruit that was so incredibly juicy I could hardly wait to sink my teeth into it.  I have everything all laid out in front of me and Julia gives up on her breakfast (hard boiled egg and an orange) and comes straight for me, mouth wide open.  What was I to do?  Turn her away, tell her no?  That would go against the "sharing is so nice" thing that I say quite often.  So I start shoveling in my delicious eggs, but more rapidly into her mouth than mine.  Bummer.

So we finish up and I am ready to dig into my grapefruit.  I figured they wouldn't dare touch that.  Jack doesn't seem to like much of any fruit, other than apples and automatically doesn't like things even when he hasn't tried them and I thought it might be too tart for the little lady.  Here is the problem.  It wasn't tart at all.  It was sweet and delicious.  Out of the blue Jack says, "mommy I would like some grapefruit,"  (picture a surprised look on my face).  I give each of them a segment and they loved it.  So thrilled, yet admittedly bummed at the same time.  Not only did I have to give up my scramble, I was now having to give up my grapefruit too.  Fortunately, everyone (including myself) seemed willing to take turns.  They waited patiently for the next bite.  They even wanted to drink the juice that is always waiting for you after eating the fleshy parts.

While I was bummed about having to give up part of my breakfast (seriously, it looked and tasted delicious), I was thrilled that everyone was sharing AND they were asking something other than goldfish crackers or a cookie.

So I guess sharing isn't so bad after all and you get to have a little fun afterwards.