The lion queens

The girls have a lion toy that has caused us some headaches lately. It’s a walker, but also converts so that the kids can ride on it. Until a week ago, the lion was a mere curiosity in the corner of the baby corral. But last week we realized the girls were too big to be caged up all day, so we instituted the “free range baby” policy. Suddenly the lion thing is very popular.

I have a picture of Lily sitting on the lion, with Audrey behind her, pushing. It’s a great picture. I set it as my background at work. Lily is happy and relaxed, while Audrey is concentrating on the lion, as if making sure not to push too hard for her little (though older) sister. It’s the kind of picture that belongs in one of those “Sisters” frames. The kind that makes people go “Awwwwww...”

That’s the great thing about pictures. You get this brief moment of time (1/60 of a second, in this case) completely out of context so that people think it’s sweet. No one has to know that just after that picture was taken Audrey reached up, grabbed Lily’s shirt, and tried to throw her off the lion. No one has to hear the screaming that ensued from both girls—from Lily because she was off the lion, and then from Audrey because Daddy put Lily back on. Nope, it’s just a nice little picture of sisters having fun.

Pictures aside, the fighting is becoming more common, but only where the lion is involved. Each girl approaches the situation differently, but it all ends in crying. Perhaps I’m projecting, but it seems that Audrey is especially prone to taking over the lion when she thinks her sisters aren’t operating it correctly. Isabel just grabs it whenever it comes by, regardless of who is using it at the time. Lily has to work so hard getting the thing going that she doesn’t want to give it up to anyone.

So now we have a decision. Do we get two more lions so everyone is happy? Would that even work? Or do we try to teach the concept of sharing to three 14-month-olds, only two of whom can even do a consistently good duck impersonation? Perhaps we should set up a schedule of isolated visitations? These are questions that never occurred to me five years ago. Even five months ago. I don’t think their entire lifelong social development hinges on the number of plastic cats in our house, but one never knows…