The Tao of Preschool
The pharmaceutical company representatives frequently give us tiny gifts with the brand name of the medicine they're promoting – pens, highlighters, notebooks, etc… So at the ACP conference I was offered a lot of crap. I usually politely refuse, but I thought my daughters would like these silly gifts when I returned, especially my 7 year old who hoards junk. So when I returned I emptied my bag and split the goodies between my 7 and 3 year old girls. (My 9 year old son is above such nonsense. He wants Legos and games for his Nintendo DS.) As soon as I started handing stuff out I realized that there might be a problem. I didn't get two of everything, so the gifts would have to be distributed asymmetrically. Our 3 year old has frequently freaked out in this situation in the past. We've tried explaining that it doesn't matter, that the next time the other person will get more, that her stuff is just as nice as her sister's stuff – all to no avail. A storm of tears and hurt feelings usually follow and require tons of affection to soothe. So I handed out the stuff as equitably as possible and prepared for the worst.

“Her notebook is bigger,” said my 3 year old. Uh oh. Here it comes. “But that’s OK” she continued. Huh? It’s OK?! Then came the line that left our jaws on the floor:

“You get what you get, and you don’t get upset. I learned it in school.” - served up by Doctor Bean @ 8:50 PM