“That’s Mine!”
The Doctrine of Universal Toddler Ownership
At two or three years old, children insist that everything they lay eyes on belongs to them. If they trip over a toy or run into someone while rushing down the hallway, their immediate response is to kick the object — or the innocent bystander — even when the collision was entirely due to them. It seems like the instinct of the developmental stage of that age: toddlers interpret the world by placing themselves at the absolute center of the universe. Naturally, the “That’s mine!” doctrine applies across the board.
I once had a little boy in my class who was severely allergic to oranges, including all kinds of citrus. One afternoon, our snack cart arrived with fresh orange wedges and muffins. After serving the children, I scooped a few juicy orange slices onto my own plate and sat down with a group of students.
The boy with the citrus allergy was sitting right next to me. Suddenly, his little fingers reached out toward my tray.
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My heart jumped with an alert. I swiftly blocked his hand just before he made contact, warning him, “Hands back, sweetie! You can’t have oranges — they make your body sick.”
“I want them,” he declared firmly. “Those are mine.”
Trying to remove the source of his attention, I popped a piece into my mouth and repeated that citrus wasn’t safe for him. As he watched me chewing the orange piece, big tears welled in his eyes, and his voice began to shake: “Those are mine.”
“You have your delicious muffin right there,” I coaxed. “Eat it!”
His eyes were completely glued to my tray. “Those are mine.”
I had to stop eating and move away out of his reach, repeating once more that oranges made him sick, the fruit was mine, and his muffin was waiting. But logic had left him. For the rest of snack time, he kept insisting that the oranges were his, watching me and my plate having orange pieces.
