Property Right's of a Toddler

If I like it,
         ... it's mine.
If it's in my hand,
         ... it's mine.
If I can take it from you
         ... it's mine.
If I had it a little while ago
         ... it's mine.
If it's mine, it must never appear to be yours in any way.
If I am playing with, or building something
         all the pieces are mine.
If it looks like mine
         ... it is mine.
If I saw it first
         ... it is mine
If you are playing with something and you put it down
         it automatically becomes mine
If it is broken
         it is yours

I get the above poem from Arvind's day care and it is not clearly mentioned who wrote it. But, if you google it, you'll find it easily and always said "Author - Unknown". Despite of that, I am quite intrigue with the above poem and start to think that toddler sort of having a 'nice' idea about property rights.


Many people think that economic teaching on property right could lead any individual into a greedy spirit. While human naturally greedy, the lesson learned from toddler and their property right is that greed is NOT the same thing as property right. I believe I need to read and learn again about property rights to be able to teach the toddler about how to say "it's mine" in a proper but meaningful way.