Teaching our daughter to share has been a constant challenge, as I’m sure it has with most parents. L likes and even expects others to share with her, but getting her to return the favor — that’s always been a trick. A few events of the last few days, though, makes me think we’ve made real progress.

Friday, we were to meet a friend of hers from her first grade class at the end-of-the-year school party, a carnival with a few rides and some games scattered about the school ground.

“We’re supposed to meet at six at the silly string!” she told us, countless times.

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We arrived at the silly string area — a roped off portion of the field where kids ran about spraying aerosol string on each other — at the appointed time, but no friend. We got a ice treat, went on a few rides, and then suddenly discovered L’s friend, also Lilly.

With her mother’s blessing, Lilly went off with L and me, but before long, she’d run out of tickets.

“Daddy,” L said with a grave expression. “Give me the rest of the tickets. I want to slip them with Lilly.”

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The second episode: today, during L’s preparation time before ballet portraits, I sat with E at the table to do his albuterol breathing treatment, but he was having none of that.

“No! No! No!”

No amount of cajoling, explaining, or begging could help.

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L came to the rescue, offering the Boy use of our family Nexus so he could play his favorite game, a vehicle-based shape-matching game.

He sat patiently for the treatment, playing his game and clapping furiously whenever he finished a round.

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“Bravo!” he cried, as did I, though for both L and E.

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Finally, in the evening, mowing the yard after almost two weeks’ neglect, I came upon a patch of matted grass, so I headed in for the dethatching rake. As I returned, I noticed a curious patch of dry grass with bits of gray about it. I walked over, pulled the grass aside, and found a burrow of baby rabbits.

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L came over to get a peek, and Papa brought the Boy over.

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“What an odd place to burrow,” I said. Indeed, for it will be a disaster if our cat finds it, which is not as likely as it might seem given her age and general laziness.

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Still, I’m happy to share our yard — for once, it’s an animal that seems harmless.