Do children understand Loyalty and Fairness? #HelloNatWest

Having two girls born close together means they literally fight like cat and dog and with it being half term we see that more now than at any other time. It seems that being together for any prolonged length of time means that they are unable to get along with each other anymore. From fighting over using a certain spoon at breakfast time to choosing the bedtime story it seems that they spend the whole day squabbling.

However every now and then we see the sisterly love and fierce loyalty that being siblings brings to their relationship.

Whenever we go on a family day out and they are around other children they become close, pairing up to ensure that the other is not left out of games or that they are able to join in all of the activities. If a child is mean to one of them the other steps up as a protector. I am not sure whether they would have always been like this or whether everything they have been through with Elizabeth’s illness has made them closer and more loyal.

When it comes to fairness however I think they have absolutely no idea when it comes to each other. Sharing it seems is not a word in their vocabulary despite our many, many attempts at making sure they share their toys. Luckily however they are good at sharing with each other and just last night as we sat around the campfire with lots of other families they shared their marshmallows with the other children so that everyone could toast them. They wait in line patiently, well with as much patience as kids can have when waiting in line anyway. They take it in turns at games and if we could just master the emotions of winning and losing then I think we might be able to get through a family game without tears.

I think that our children really do understand the concepts of loyalty and fairness even if they don’t always show it but it is unfortunate that not everyone they will encounter in their lives understands the importance of these too. Just this week I have been arguing with my phone provider who has no loyalty to me despite being their customer for over five years and in the supermarket yesterday evening hubby got ID’d again, I mean how is that fair on me! He is only three years younger than me yet I have not been ID’d in years.

Society is not really geared towards loyalty and fairness, you just have to look at the car insurance industry to see why customers should shop around every year. However it seems that things may be starting to change as Natwest introduce their Hello/Goodbye campaign where they wave goodbye at offers aimed just at new customers and hello to treating their loyal customers fairly. You can find out more about the campaign by watching this video.