For the Child Who Won’t Share the New Toy

Four lines you can say out loud tonight. Word for word. Free to save.

What to say

1. The new truck stays yours. The guest plays with the bin of cars.

2. Watching someone else hold your new truck is its own kind of awful.

3. You put the truck on the high shelf, and the car bin comes down to the rug.

4. You choose when the truck comes back down. I won’t take it off the shelf.

When to use it

This is for the moment it actually goes wrong — not the calm version you rehearse in the car. Pick one line. Say it once. Then stop talking and wait three seconds. If they push back, repeat the same line, not a new one. Say the same thing for five nights before you decide it doesn't work.