Share and Share Alike

My two elder sons, who are 4 and 3 years old, have an obscene amount of toys bought by well-meaning relatives, Godparents and friends. Most of the toys lie unused in the corner of the playroom (which used to be our dining room; guests now eat in the kitchen as a consequence) and are only brought out at the firm suggestion of their mother or father.
Despite this, they are acutely aware of what belongs to whom. As with many children it would seem, “Mine!” was the first word the older boy learned. Mutual play with each other’s toys requires world cup standard refereeing; perhaps even more stringent than that since B and G are much more aware of the situation than FIFA refs recently seemed to be (Would that goal have made a difference? Surely professional sportsmen earning megabucks should be able to overcome such reversals?).
So, I was very pleased when a neighbour kindly brought a cake around for us to share recently and the boys excitedly brought it outside to the picnic table and began to carefully divide it up on the plate.
“That’s my piece,” said B as he drew the blunt knife through cake as precisely as a surgeon.
“Why it bigger then mine?” demanded G with justified indignation.
“Cos I’m bigger!” declared B.
“Not fair,” stated G keenly. That was true and I suggested they divide it equally. The negotiations began again; Paul McCartney’s divorce was settled more amicably and efficiently. Still, they were sharing and learning about the need to compromise so I hovered on the edge of intervening; like all parents I suppose, trying to maintain the balance between sorting problems and prematurely interfering.
Unfortunately, our dog has much less reticence about boundaries and plodded over to see what the fuss and sweet smell was about. The boys were so intent on ensuring they each had a fair deal they did not notice the big furry nose emerge between them and suddenly scoff the lot!