Toddler Rules of Possession

Have you ever seen the "Toddler Rules of Possession" that are sometimes printed on t-shirts and posters? If you haven't yet been so fortunate, or if you've simply forgotten them, here you go:

1. If I like it, it's mine.
2. If it's in my hand, it's mine.
3. If I can take it from you, it's mine.
4. If I had it a little while ago, it's mine.
5. If it's mine, it must NEVER appear to be yours in any way.
6. If I'm doing or building something, all the pieces are mine.
7. If it looks just like mine, it is mine.
8. If I saw it first, it's mine.
9. If you are playing with something and you put it down, it automatically becomes mine.
10. If it's broken, it's yours.

It's been exciting to watch Eliana learn her pronouns and possessives. The most common possessive we hear, of course, is, "Mine!" I wasn't even sure she had completely mastered "yours" until last Friday during breakfast.

I was preparing to join Eliana at the table, placing the same food but different drinks in front of us. I had given Eliana orange juice, as it was already in her sippy cup, but I had poured myself a mug of milk. Before I could even sit down she was reaching for my milk and declaring, "My milk." She then placed her sippy cup in front of me and said, "Yours." After a good laugh, I told her it was okay, she could keep the milk, but we would share it. However, whenever I reached for the milk to take a sip she would again remind me to whom the milk really belonged and point to the sippy cup of unwanted orange juice and say, "Yours."

I've determined that I must have violated over half of the "Rules of Possession" at one point or another in that particular encounter.