Sharing is not a Four Letter Word!

This one is a little late today.  I have been visiting at "Mommy's" for a few days and we were joined last night by "Mini Me" and "The Blonde", along with baby "Stitch" and "Max".  We have done a bit of work and had a lot of fun and laughs.  "Boo Boo Bear" and "Max" are self-proclaimed best friends.  The babies kept their mommies busy.  We did some landscaping and treated ourselves to an afternoon at the zoo.  I definitely say that tongue in cheek, because grown ups organize these excursions with the best of intentions, .  We are determined to make this a great family outing and dammit, the kids better have fun!

It never quite goes that way.  First of all, "Mini Me" is afraid of birds.  This particular zoo was loaded with them.  How do animals know when you don't like them or when you are afraid of them?  In the midst of "Mini Me" hyperventilating over all the birds and telling the kids how dirty birds are, a family of geese started following her around!  No one else, just her.  The kids aren't happy walking, not happy being carried and aren't happy in strollers either.  We had one small incident of non-sharing.   Every time "Max" would sit in the stroller,"Boo Boo Bear" would grab her water cup, so "max" couldn't drink from it.

It reminded me of a trip to the Brookfield Zoo in Chicago with the oldest four of the children.  I believe I was pregnant with "Pook" at the time.  It was me, the kids, my brother and his family.  Like all adults, I had decided that this would be a great family excursion and we were going to have a great time, or else!  My brother and I feel the same way when we vacation or have vacation outings.  We don't skimp. However, I also prefer not to waste food.  If you ask for something, you need to eat it.  One of my "Golden Rules".  My kids were pretty little, and not big eaters, so rather than throw food away we would share.  Everyone wanted popcorn and we got a couple of boxes to share.  "The Blonde" did not have a good grasp on that concept.  That day, she chose not to share. 

She got two warnings and on that hot day, you guessed it; I snapped!  I learned a very important lesson that day.  If you make a threat, be ready and able to carry out that threat.  If she wasn't going to share popcorn, we were leaving.  Not everyone, just her and me.  When her third chance came around, I carried out the threat.  I left the other three kids with my brother and sister in law, which may have been a punishment for them as well.  We marched out of that zoo to the parking lot with "The Blond" screaming all the way there "I'll share the popcorn!"  I could imaging what every person in that zoo thought but I didn't care.  We sat by the car for a while and had a nice little "chat" about sharing.  Eventually we returned to the zoo.  I don't think anyone dared to step out of line the rest of the day.  Let's face it, they were terrified that the crazy woman would snap again.  Just another memorable trip for the books.  The good news is, "The Blonde" now shares her popcorn.