The boys have been working on their current sticker chart for weeks. We haven’t been good about putting the actual stickers on the chart when they’ve done the chores, but they each had an item they wanted, so we promised that if they cleaned their room this past weekend, we would consider the charts filled. But it didn’t seem to work. The room was pretty messy and they just didn’t want to do it. After four hours in there Sunday, they still hadn’t even made a dent in it. Then we had to go shopping for a birthday present and Daddy picked up their rewards at the store. The agreement was they could have them once they finished their room. Finally! I thought. This will motivate them to get it done!
Nope. No such luck. They still refused to do it. Despite numerous, and I mean many, many, reminders that they wouldn’t get their rewards if the room wasn’t picked up, they still just couldn’t wouldn’t get it done. Once the day was over, they both asked for the toys, which made me think they just weren’t getting it! Maybe they didn’t understand how it worked…but no, this was like the 100th time we’d gone through this process! Days and days went by. Let me tell you, the mess in the room was overwhelming, but they were making it worse each evening instead of better, so I insisted that they must do it by themselves. No help from Mom this time.
Finally, after four days in there, Tuesday night around 6:30 in the evening, Mac asked if they could have the toys. I told him, as soon as their room was picked up, they could have them (the same thing I had been repeating the last four days). Mac looked at me and said in an excited voice, “Then we’ll go pick up! Come on, Patrick!” “Okay, Mac! Let’s go!” I warned them that bath/shower and then bedtime was in a half hour. No way they would get it done and have time to play with the toys that evening. Mac insisted they could, so off they went….and picked up that entire mess in 25 minutes. Little stinkers. So they got their rewards after bath/shower time. Mac played his new game and Patrick loved on his new truck.
Then the reason for this post happened the next morning. Patrick asked Mac if they could share. He would let Mac play with his truck if he could play Mac’s DS . So they did. Since then, they’ve played each other’s reward…even going as far as to ask if they could trade permanently. All that wanting and they play with each other’s toy. Weirdos.
