The War of the Pinks

For those of you that are unaware, and given just how many random people apparently read this blog, that would be a lot, I teach pre-school with three of my friends from church. Our three-year-olds go to church classes together anyway, so it was any easy jump to a co-op school program. We each teach twice a week for two hours at a time, every four weeks. We teach from a mail delivery curriculum called Mother Goose Time Preschool, which provides the lesson plans, craft materials, music, calendars, etc. We've been pleased overall.

This was my week to teach, with the second of my days being today. Including my own kid, there are three girls and one boy in the group. For no reason at all, I will change the other children's names to Peter, Flopsy, and Mopsy. Our first day this week went beautifully. Today, not so much. I had never before been witness to the Color Wars. Peter loves the color red. If there is an object to be had that is red, he demands it. Given that he lacks competition for it, he usually gets it. Thus, all is well in his world. On the other hand, there are Flopsy and Mopsy, both of whom love pink. Now Flopsy and Mopsy are good friends, each also attending ballet together during the week.

Part of the lesson today was an activity involving porcupine balls and various games that can be played with them (spoon races, etc.). There were no red balls and Peawhistle doesn't care about colors as long as she gets the object displayed; thus, both toddlers were content. However, there was no joy in Mudville. Alas, Mother Goose Time provided but ONE pink porcupine ball. When I asked the kids to pair off for the ball-tossing game, Flopsy and Mopsy quickly embraced one another and declared their undying love for each other. And then came the tears, threats, and general disharmony aboard this ship. The Pink Ball had previously caused much strife when each girl wanted it; I had attempted to be fair by giving it to the girl who had asked for it first (who was by then pouting in the corner after a brief burst of tears), followed by her blood oath that she would trade with the other at a prescribed moment (much the same with the Battle for the Pink Chair vs. the Brown Chair at the beginning of class). But when the pairing-off game began, we saw Peawhistle and Peter happily tossing their ball between them, while Flopsy and Mopsy clawed and grabbed at each other as they raced around the room in an attempt to monopolize time with the infamous ball. I ended the dastardly game and stripped them of the Ball to End All Balls, sending them upstairs for the themed lunch of the day, pizza. As we waited for Mopsy's mother to show up with it, Flopsy and Mopsy continued their war with The Cups. Yesterday, to prevent such arguments, I made sure all children had the same kind of cup, despite Flopsy's request for the Dora cup. Today, I didn't have enough similar cups, and when both girls asked for the Dora cup, I felt it only fair to give it to Flopsy since she had been denied it previously. Mopsy burst into tears, inconsolable. A half an hour later, she was finally pleased to realize that she not only had a pink cup (which she had previously decried as inferior to the Dora cup), but a pink plate and a pink Disney Princess placemat. And finally all was well again with Flopsy and Mopsy. And their fued was repaired just as quickly as it had begun. Peter's mother, obviously unsurprised by the morning's clashes, informed me that we have not seen the end of the Pink Wars by any stretch of the imagination. Hard lesson learned: hide everything pink.