I Go First!

In recent weeks, the kids' competitive "spirit" has reached a new level.  "I go first" is a constant refrain from their mouths.  Each demands/cries/yells/tantrums to be the first to get in the car, wash his hands before dinner, pick out the bath toys, get in the bathtub, have his story ready first and so on.  Sometimes going first defies logic, like quitting playing just so he can be the first to wash his hands before dinner.  Of course there are a couple scenarios in which one insists the other actually should go first, like having his hair washed or getting out of the bathtub.  But by and large, refereeing who may go first now takes up a significant share of our everyday parenting responsibilities, along with reminding the kids to keep their hands to themselves, pick up their toys, use please and thank you and to stop egging the other on.

I don't know what sparks this "going first" desire, but I'm guessing it's normal and it's not going to end anytime soon.  A co-worker's elementary-age daughters still "compete" in who can go first in things you'd never think to want to or need to be first.  Everything for them is a competition.

It looks like I've got years of this ahead of me.  I'd better break out the referee whistle.