It's mine but you can have some

It's mine but you can have some
With you I want to share it
Cause if I share it with you
You'll have some too

That's a bit of a song on a music CD that the kids listen to in the car.It's about sharing. It's about the joy of sharing. Being generous. And enjoying it. I think it's important concept to get into the kids' head. Hearing it through music is a way for me to get that idea across without actually "talking" about it.

The concept of sharing and not being selfish is something that's not happening in the family of someone I know.

One of my family friend's grandfather died a few months ago. The grandfather owned a home in Southern California. I guess the family is selling the house. But there's an issue on how the family will split the proceeds between my friend's dad and his 5 siblings. Apparently there's a division between the older 3 and the younger 3 (which my friend's dad is a part of) ones. And these 6 people are not youngsters. These are adults who are in their 50s and 60s. They're FIGHTING over money. It's so bad that my friend's dad has TOLD HIM that he can't talk to any of the older 3 uncles OR their families. Otherwise, my friend's dad will "disown" him. WTF?

BigSis#2 and I were talking about the situation the other day. And we're both still amazed that there's such a big fight going on. That cousins aren't allowed to talk to each other. That it's such a big deal. That this drama is happening after their parent has died. What would their father say if he was alive and they acted like this? I'm sure he'd bring out a can of whoop-a$$.

Our family friend is glad that he lives on his own. His two younger siblings still live at home. So they have to listen to the drama every day. It's definitely a bad example to show to your kids. This fight over money. Money that's a result of their grandfather's death. I don't know what kind of message it's sending to all the kids in this family.

BigSis#2 and I realize that money does do strange things to people. But in this situation we both agree that the money that's being fought over is actually a gift. A gift from their father. It's money that they didn't earn. It's money that wasn't planned in their 2007 budget. It's a gift. And you shouldn't fight over a gift. You should be thankful for it.