"You could use the scissors," I suggested. I pointed to the scissors that are always available. He walked over and took a pair, cut the sticker to his desired length, and kept working.
Other kids came to work at the table too. The kids enjoyed using all the different kinds of stickers.
The stars were particularly popular. The three boys handed the sheet back and forth to get what they wanted. I think I even heard some negotiations regarding who got which star.
Ms. Cindy and I were talking at one point and looked over at the sticker table. The boy with the scissors was cutting a sheet of stickers into thirds.
"Did you give him scissors?" Cindy asked me.
"He wanted to trim a sticker," I said. "I didn't think he would cut up the sheets."
Before we could say or do anything else, the boy handed the pieces to the other boys, taking one for himself. He turned to us. "I cut the stickers apart," he said, "so we wouldn't fight."
I think I was beaming. Such great thinking and problem-solving. No fighting had happened. But the boy saw that he could solve the sticker issue...helping create a better situation...by cutting the sticker sheet into smaller pieces.
Again...sometimes it's best to do nothing at all.
