I met “Mean Ricky” yesterday. (This was his self titled name, not one I gave him.) He’s been having a hard time sharing his toys with Billy and yesterday was no exception. One of the many problems, which it is impossible to explain to a 4 year old, is that Billy is a big tease and Ricky is his prime target! For example, Ricky doesn’t want to share his toys, so he picks them up and runs to another room to get away from Billy. To Billy, this is bait. He takes off laughing after his brother and chases him from room to room just trying to grab any of the precious treasures Ricky is trying so fiercely to protect.
So yesterday, after one of these lengthy sessions of keep away, “Mean Ricky” appeared. He told me his name and then proceeded to stomp around the house, taking himself to his room more than once, all the while with his eyebrows down and a big frown on his face. “I’m Mean Ricky and I’m mad. I don’t want to share my toys with anyone! I just want to be by myself” is what he kept saying and off he’d stomp to his room. Billy was happily playing by himself in the toy room the whole time Mean Ricky was around (about 30 minutes or so). I’m not sure what finally made Mean Ricky go away, but after a while, all 3 of us were playing trains and getting along fine.