My son's favourite phrase at the moment is "You are very selfish arh!".
Every evening when me and hubby come home, he will ask whether we have bought him anything. If we didn't have anything for him, he will use that phrase.
Or when we switch the TV channels and do not allow him to watch his favourite Playhouse Disney channel, he will use that phrase again. It is his way of getting us to sympathise and give in to him and what he wants.
I guess it is part of the terrible 4 & 5 stage, where the world must centre around them and they are to be prioritised in every way possible.
Of course I do not condone such behaviour and keep stressing to him that we need to share and take turns in everything that we do. And if mama and ayah come home every evening with a new toy or gift for him, we will go bankrupt one day!
Kids, as gullible as they are, are always quick to point out their peers' mistakes but not their own. Kyle will happily point out that his sister is selfish when she refuses to share her candy with him, but he forgets just a minute ago when he refuses to share his toy car with her.
My way of teaching them to share? Confiscate whatever they were quarelling about and only give it back once he/she agrees to play nice and share. They will scream and whine and cry, but I will only give in only when they tell me that they will share.
It works, because the next time it happens, they will themselves say to each other that if they are not sharing, mama will take your toy away! Kyle especially loves to use this tactic on his sister and Rae when they refuse to share with him something. He kinda observes the tactics I use and uses it back on the younger ones!
He also has a tendency to play other sorts of mind games nowadays. Each time I get angry with him, he will say, "Just now you say you do not like me anymore". Huh? When did I say that? Of course my heart will soften..I mean which mother would want her child to think that she doesn't love him anymore?
The older they get, the more smarter they become. (a little cunning also I might add).
