Wanna hold your hand

Mazin's newest cuteness: holding my hand. He also holds dada's hand. He likes to take our hands and walk us over to whatever it is he wants us to play with. It makes me feel very special, chosen. We also get lots of hugs and kisses, and tears, too, when he doesn't want us to leave. His expressiveness just keeps unfolding. It is rather miraculous. Of course, the flip side of all that cuteness is a strengthening will. My child can be an angelic charmer one second and a malevolent snatcher the next. (Snatcher of toys, that is--away from other children.) Which leads me to the topic I guess I really want to discuss: sharing. It is such funny theatre we put on as parents when we teach our children to share. I can't help feeling like an absolute hypocrite saying to Mazin, "You need to share--sharing is what we do when we are with other kids." Or not a hypocrite, exactly, but self-consciously, as if I know that this is a lesson I never fully learned--that very few adults ever fully learned. It's like an act we parents all put on together, pretending that the world our children will enter is a fair one where everyone plays by the rules and no one gets ahead by being selfish or self-interested. In fact, we all know that many in positions of power got there not through altruism but through ruthlessness and cunning. I have to remind myself of the benevolent leaders in this world, like maybe the Dalai Lama. (I don't know him personally, but he sure seems like a nice guy.) I have to say, I find the whole scene to be rather boring--and futile. I can't help wondering how these kids would find their own resolutions without their interfering parents. Maybe they would do a better job. I suppose the only way Mazin will learn to share is by having others share with him, regularly. I think we could work on that at home, when we are playing together. I can share with him and talk about sharing, and see if that makes any difference. Stay tuned for the results of this experiment...