Selfish or Sharing?

My daughter wanted to do something on the big television in the basement today.   An argument arose, and I came out to talk them through some negotiations.   I spoke with my son alone, in a quiet voice, and in the end, he said it was just because his sister was blind and she always won or something to that effect. 

I told him that no, it was not because she was blind. But in a way, he was right.   He also was very wrong.   He can watch television on the TV upstairs or in the bonus room.  He can play on his switch or his iPad, or the X Box.   Or, when it gets fixed, his computer.   His sister has very little she can do in comparison.  

She has a few games she's played again and again on her father's computer when he's not on it.  The other day he let her play his game on the X Box.  It was an open-world game, and she was flying all around on some beast over land and sea.  She had the best time asking me where she was, dismounting to walk around or swim, and then getting back on her mount to explore some more.  

I thought that's what she wanted to do today, but she wanted to play Kinect Party, a very old game that has you moving around in the space in front of the television to play little games.  She knows the sounds and can do it by herself, although today, she wanted her brother to play with her.  

I explained to my son that it was not because she was blind; it was called sharing and taking turns.   After a bit, they worked out a plan, which was simple enough.   He wanted to eat, and she only wanted to play for a half hour.   The number of tears and anger that surrounded that simple agreement was what I can only describe as childlike.   Which I suppose matches since they are children.

The Tiny Girl Chronicles:  Why does my daughter need to play games on her father's computer and not one of her own?  Because she's resisting learning what she needs to learn to be self-sufficient on her laptop.   So she has to wait until her father is not on the computer, ask one of us for help (because she doesn't like the voice tools on his computer either), and play when we're there to assist and to get her back in the game if she hits the wrong button or does an unexpected keystroke combination.  So she's limited in what she can do, but she's limiting that herself because she's not ready to embrace the voice-over tools yet. 

The Big Boy Update:  My son said his sister was being selfish, and I don't like to say negative things about my son, but he is the epitome of selfishness at times.  He didn't want to share the bonus room, which is large enough to fit a gaggle of children, because he said he was there first.   I reminded him of this today.  He didn't like the comparison.