How to get what you want and influence people

Yesterday on the playground, all the kids were smitten with a fancy push-trike, which had a basket, a bell, and a horn. It was unclear who it actually belonged to, but in the space of an hour, Clio, Charlie, Rylen, and Riley all hovered, grabbing the horn, shaking the basket, and pushing the thing to make it go.
The parents all used the word "share" a lot, but ultimately we agreed that these kids are just too young to get the concept, and it's such a civil thing to impose on toddlers, whose worlds revolve only around what they want.

In Minnesota last weekend, Clio got not one, but TWO stuffed dinosaurs at Kohls because the merchandisers are smart enough to put them at the checkout, at toddler eye level, and to understand that toddlers don't understand ownership. Parents (or in this case grandparents) are helpless and money gets spent. Could you resist this?:



As an aside, we also got Clio a drum. Not, in this case, because she spotted one and thought it belonged to her, but because she bangs on things and it seemed productive to channel that. Plus, I oringally edited these photos in a "new toys" folder and am lazily including them here, even though the subject changed with my musing about sharing.



The "it's mine because I want it" mentality extends to food. At the zoo, (more on that later), Clio had her snack of cheerios, but decided she would also like some of Finn and Lucia's lunch. So she got it, just by pointing. Yummy.