What a day! Parents let me sleep in until 8am after a late night with Masiki until midnight. We spent a lovely evening discussing parenting strategies and whether kids should get answers to all of their questions (e.g., sex, war, death). It was all great fun! :)
Then Roni discovered a doll. The baby Roni doll that Ami and I got together at a physical store in San Mateo a few weeks before I had Roni or maybe a couple of months after Roni was born. Ami didn't care much for the doll for a few months now. Roni, on the other hand, got madly in love with it all of a sudden. He was kissing it, calling it "baby", hugging it, took it everywhere he went today. Roni spent 30 minutes (no joke) laying on his belly on the floor with his face into "baby's" belly. Fast forward through many random fights to the evening. Roni plans on going to bed. We are doing the night routine with him. Of course, Roni asks for "baby". Out of nowhere, Ami starts melting down saying that "Baby Roni" is not a "night toy" and that real Roni has no dibs on it at night and that this is HIS toy - Ami's toy and Ami is ready to fight for it (finally, for something). And fight they do :( I always know who is at the right and who is at the wrong. Or at least I think I do. In this situation, I felt horrible for both sides. The Baby Roni doll truly is Ami's. It also manifests my longing for the time that Ami and I no longer have together, just the two of us. On the flip side, Ami didn't care about the Baby Roni doll for months! I kid you not. Baby Roni was all but forgotten. The real Roni was courting the doll all day. He visibly got attached to it. I actually have never seen anything like that. It seemed awfully unfair to take away this good friend for the night :( Mom (as always) had a great solution. She suggested Ami gives real Roni his lovey Mia in exchange for the Baby Roni doll. Miracle happened - the exchange worked! There was no tears on either side anymore. ... until Ami went to bed and proclaimed that he cannot sleep without HIS Mia and that Roni has no dibs on her at night either. I took out the reserve Mia from the closet and now they are both sleeping with their own Mia's. Can't wait for the two of them to discover that Mia has a double in the morning!
Alik, please come back soon!
Then Roni discovered a doll. The baby Roni doll that Ami and I got together at a physical store in San Mateo a few weeks before I had Roni or maybe a couple of months after Roni was born. Ami didn't care much for the doll for a few months now. Roni, on the other hand, got madly in love with it all of a sudden. He was kissing it, calling it "baby", hugging it, took it everywhere he went today. Roni spent 30 minutes (no joke) laying on his belly on the floor with his face into "baby's" belly. Fast forward through many random fights to the evening. Roni plans on going to bed. We are doing the night routine with him. Of course, Roni asks for "baby". Out of nowhere, Ami starts melting down saying that "Baby Roni" is not a "night toy" and that real Roni has no dibs on it at night and that this is HIS toy - Ami's toy and Ami is ready to fight for it (finally, for something). And fight they do :( I always know who is at the right and who is at the wrong. Or at least I think I do. In this situation, I felt horrible for both sides. The Baby Roni doll truly is Ami's. It also manifests my longing for the time that Ami and I no longer have together, just the two of us. On the flip side, Ami didn't care about the Baby Roni doll for months! I kid you not. Baby Roni was all but forgotten. The real Roni was courting the doll all day. He visibly got attached to it. I actually have never seen anything like that. It seemed awfully unfair to take away this good friend for the night :( Mom (as always) had a great solution. She suggested Ami gives real Roni his lovey Mia in exchange for the Baby Roni doll. Miracle happened - the exchange worked! There was no tears on either side anymore. ... until Ami went to bed and proclaimed that he cannot sleep without HIS Mia and that Roni has no dibs on her at night either. I took out the reserve Mia from the closet and now they are both sleeping with their own Mia's. Can't wait for the two of them to discover that Mia has a double in the morning!
Alik, please come back soon!
Natus', Alik cannot come back sooner. Unfortunately, you'll have a lot of similar situations in future. I believe the main point is supporting both always but weaker in the specific case.
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