08/27/2026
Recently I had a conversation with a parent regarding children's personal boundaries and how to help foster developing respect for one another. I tried to explain how I too feel this is an important right for all children and something we work on every day.
One of my pet peeves is the phrase "sharing is caring". I'm not sure where this little rhyming phrase came from, but it does not encourage kindness. Usually the child saying this is trying to get something that someone else is using.
We have the rule that something is yours to use as long as you are kind and gentle with it. If another child wants to use something or share items someone else is using they need to ask. The other child "can say yes or they can say no" and the child asking needs to respect the answer.
Young children are egocentric. They don't understand the needs and wants of another person. Everything pertaining to their self is most important and they feel it should be important to everyone else as well. Guiding children to consider others and to develop the patience to wait for gratification will go a long way in social settings.
