It was a bright and sunny day. With the doors of my mommy-mobile open, my 8-year-old, her friend and my kindergartener son played in the car, while I talked to the friend's mother.

Suddenly, cries that would have startled even the calmest child development expert exploded from within the minivan.

When I turned and faced the culprits, I discovered my 5-year-old crying hysterically.

"What’s happening?" I said in my best This Better Be Good voice.

"I want the BLUE one!" my son whined. In his spindle-like fingers, he held a purple cocktail umbrella, gifted to him by my daughter’s friend. In my daughter’s hands – a blue one.

Within nanoseconds, my mother's brain broke it down.

"Raya, you know your brother’s favorite color is blue."

"But it’s my second favorite color."

You’re kidding me, right?

"Give your brother the blue umbrella. NOW." My daughter crinkled her face and tried to force tears as only third grade melodrama queens can.

"Why does he always get what he wants?" Excuse the extensive use of italics, but when kids of this age are upset, they tend to speak just like that.

To stem the tide of pouting, I first tried the "It’s JUST. AN. UMBRELLA." speech. This argument follows the same logic as, "It's JUST. A. CEREAL. BOX." – a line I repeated for weeks when my kids argued over which cereal box would be placed in front of which sibling while they ate. (Berry Kix has much better games on the back than Frosted Flakes.)

This tactic failed.

I then launched into the "Your friend is nice just for giving you anything" monologue. This lesson imparts the belief that when you get a gift from someone, you appreciate whatever it is. End of story.

Eventually, my incredulity silenced my daughter’s hysteria and the car quieted. I turned back to my friend – who now must have realized how perfect an only child can be – confident that my daughter accepted her lot as the owner of a purple cocktail umbrella.

But two minutes later, my son’s wails of "She BROKE it!" interrupted us again. The friend accidentally snapped the blue umbrella’s stem. Although she replaced it with an intact purple one, I anticipated how my son would greet the replacement.