Mine

So as I keep reminding you, Violet is Two. With a capital T that rhymes with P and that stands for... Petulant. (What I really wanted was Whiny, but that doesn't start with P or rhyme with T. Still, Petulant, as it turns out thanks to dictionary.com, works as well.)

Petulant: moved to or showing sudden, impatient irritation, especially over some trifling annoyance. As in, when I saw she had included another nerdy dictionary definition, I dismissed her with a petulant wave of my hand.


Or


When Violet realized that R. was playing with her toy car, she gave a petulant wail and ran after him wildly, tearfully demanding he give it back.
 
Basically, Violet has a case of "mine-itis" (thanks Sesame Street for that lesson in sharing) and will be moved to tears at the drop of a hat if anyone dares lay a finger on her stuff. Nevermind that it's something she hasn't played with in months. Or that she just dropped said toy in favor of something much better. Or that she insisted a friend give up a toy, only to change her mind when friend's next toy was something else she wanted. 

 The other night she went to sleep with two pillow pets, a blanket, two Elmos, a sippy cup and a book, all because she insisted it all belonged to her and refused to go to bed with it. Tonight we had to share the dinner table with a toy dog and a plastic watering can (random), without which Violet could not be convinced to eat anything.


How do I encourage sharing? Or at least get her to ease up on the mine-mine-mine? Or do I just sigh petulantly and dip into my reserves of patience until this, too, passes?