Trading...the early years

I spent this morning in a time warp. A really big one. In case there is any question about how early (really early) trading happened, thanks to my sons, I now know.

Picture this - two cavemen are wandering out in a field (too dark in their cave for you to really see this picture). One caveman, we'll call him William, is carrying a branch. The other caveman, we'll call him Michael, is carrying a stone. As an observer, it's obvious to you that William is only carrying the branch because someone probably put it in his hand. He's enjoying it, but he's not overly committed to it. Michael, on the other hand, loves his stone. He's tossing it back and forth between his hands. He tries taking a bite out of it to see if it tastes good. He throws it along the ground and then lumbers after it. However, you also notice that the stone seems a bit too heavy for Michael to hold it securely.

About halfway through the field, the two cavemen bump into one another. William sees Michael's stone and grunts. Since you, the reader, may not be fluent in caveman-ese, allow me to translate. "Oh wow, oh wow. A stone. I want to play with a stone." So William drops his branch on the ground and takes the stone away from Michael (who didn't have a good grip on it in the first place, therefore it's not really stealing). Michael looks at William and grunts "oh bummer, I was really enjoying that stone. However, I am a bit too lazy to fight you for it, so I'm just going to take your branch." So you see, a trade has been made.

Now lest you think I am really letting my sons play with stones and branches, do not worry - not in the house. This morning's trades were between a toy mirror and a stacking ring. And the back and forth went on for an hour. I am also happy to tell you that Michael initiated a few of the trades. He is getting sneaky - he notices when William's attention is waning and grip loosening and then he makes his move. What I will also tell you is that in our toy box, we have ten stacking rings. I don't know what made this one so special. Perhaps the bright yellowness of it.

And finally, in case anyone in the outside world ever reads this, or for any other mommies who want some good toddler insight, I didn't create this idea of the cavemen myself. I am currently reading Happiest Toddler on the Block and this is Dr. Karp's concept. (Although in my reading he hasn't applied it to toy trades quite yet. Maybe he'll pick that up in his next book and give me some recongition. Or a few $$s.) And it's totally true. Next time you're around a toddler, pretend he's a caveman...you'll find you've entered into the same timewarp.