Diplomacy but not the Henry Kissinger way

I am always full of admiration of people who talk about how their children love each other and protect one another. I believe that these children are fictitious and live in a parallel universe because I know no children like that. And obviously, my children aren't like that.

My twins fight for my attention, fight for each other's toys and snatch it (Jordan), get pissed off because he can't win and chuck and royal fit (Evan), bite in retaliation (Evan), scream and stamp feet (Evan once again), cry pitifully when punished (Jordan), have crying that self-perpetuates into a sobbing-hiccuping bawl (Jordan) and fling the toy given in concession with great anger (Evan). Thankfully, they are also beginning to show some sense of diplomacy and other means of conflict resolution that does not involve violence. The foreign policy stuff I did in uni comes in useful here. They try to be conciliatory, they try quid pro quo- I'll give you this toy, if you give me that one-although even at 20 months, they understand the idea of equal value and if it is not, the discussion is off the table. Literally. Flung off.

So, here's when quid pro quo didn't work, even though the items in question were exactly the same. 900g milk tins albeit of different brands (We're testing which one they are least averse to). This exchange required a third party peace broker to remove the offending item and even then tensions were fraught between both parties. Thankfully, unlike nations with leaders with elephant memories, it is easier to broker peace between 20 month olds because they are easily distracted, by the bird flying by or the airplane in the sky.



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