How To Solve “First Dibs”

Siblings fight. They want to go first. They want the bigger piece. They want to choose the music. They want… what they want!

“Scissors, paper, rock” just leads to arguments. 

Trying to intervene leads to claims of favouritism or “it’s not fair; you always pick them.”

Try this idea to solve a stack of sibling challenges:

The First Choice Token

1. Write “1st choice” in sharpie on an old poker chip or a Connect 4 token. 
2. Give it to one of your kids. 
3. When a circumstance arises where they don’t want to compromise or leave it to chance—when they have to have things their way—they can play the first choice token to get first dibs. 
4. Once played, the token goes to the other person. They can hold the First Choice Token for as long as they want, but once played, it’s handed over.