Pomtzu,

The point that this old timer was trying to make, is that children are never too young to be taught manners and respect for other people and their belongings - whether it be a cake or a toy, or whatever. The longer a child is allowed to behave inappropriately, the longer it will take to get that child to act appropriately. Of course at the age of 3 they haven't figured their world out, but that's the duty and obligation of the parents to guide the child in the right direction. No one has to be a drill sergeant to their kids, yet they need to be firm and not just look the other way and ignore the issues. Kids will push and push just to see how far they can go and what they can get away with, and it will be confusing to them when all of a sudden they get busted for something they have been doing all along, and now for some strange reason (in their mind), Mom or Dad steps up and says "no more of that behavior".e
Again - just the old fashioned way that I was raised, and the way I raised my kids, and in turn, the way my kids raised their kids.
AMEN SISTA!!!!!

When I was growing up, all my parents had to do was give us "THE LOOK" aka "The hairy eyeball" and we towed the line. I'll tell ya, todays kids have absolutely NO respect for ANYONE.