Babies are like dogs, not in many ways I admit, but in the way that whatever toy or biscuit or bowl or cup or chair another baby has is sure to be the one that baby wants. Twins have proved this theory. It does not matter whether the object in question is a well chewed biscuit or the most ordinary of all the toys- what one baby has the other baby wants and nothing will change her little made up mind.
It is amazing, quite remarkable that at a matter of months baby can't talk, can't walk- can't even crawl, and yet she can understand the difference between what she has and what her sister has and can feel envious. I use 'envy' carefully here because jealousy (feeling scared of losing something that you have- such as a soggy biscuit) and envy (being in awe of something someone else has- such as an even soggier biscuit) paint two different scenarios. I am referring to envy because, although it might seem a more natural reaction for baby to be scared of losing her biscuit, this is not the case, she is envious of her sister's for the fact that it just might be better than her own and has not yet learnt jealousy- to fear for what she already has.
Envy and jealously, so often confused even in adult discourse, arrive at different time's in a child's life. A baby can already envy another baby but it will not be until (at least probably toddling) that a child will fear for the possession of the object that it holds. I now sit and wait for the day when those tiny darting eyes stop saying "what have you got and is it better than what I have?" and start to say "don't come any closer... I am not letting go..."
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