Fruit Inspection

It’s been a long couple of days. My Grandma is in town for a while, visiting from Arizona. Her health is not the greatest and Mom needs help with her on days that she works and teaches classes, leaving her gone from the house for almost 11 hours. My Dad is there, but I think Gram feels better having me around to do things like helping her to the bathroom or snuggling her up on the couch with a warm quilt.

Her flight actually arrived on Monday night and I knew she was anxious to see my kiddos. On Wednesday I had asked my dad to get the kids from me after Bible study so I could go across the street and renew my drivers license. He took them back to their place, where I later met them, and we ended up staying for the rest of the afternoon watching golf with my Grandma.

Thursday was my Mom’s day to work and teach. The kids and I got to their house around 11:00 and for some reason they were wired the entire day. I was constantly reminding them of things they already know: “don’t run in the house”, “don’t throw in the house”, “stop picking up the dog”, “inside voices, please”, and on and on. I don’t know what got into them and I don’t know why I couldn’t seem to get a handle on the situation.

But after a long day of Gram-sitting, cleaning up after the kids, and cooking meals I was ready to crash! And I did. This morning I laid in bed listening to the rain and thinking about how today could be a better day. How to keep the noise level down and keep the arguments to a minimum. And wondering if it would be possible to go to Target for a few things this afternoon. Or was I looking for trouble?

Then I came up with a plan. I called Savannah and Emery into the kitchen around 10:00 and showed them both 2 empty tupperware bowls. Then I filled each bowl with $1 worth of coins, and set another bowl that was filled with more coins between the other two. I explained to them that we were going shopping and asked if they would like to have some money to take with them.

They were excited about the possiblity of buying something for themselves. Savannah started jabbering about wanting a kitty for her Littlest Pet Shop and Emery just kept repeating the phrase, “I get Skittles, Mommy…I get Skittles”.

So I explained to them how they could earn their money. First, they each started out with a dollars worth of coins. Make a bad choice, loose a coin. Make a good choice, earn a coin. It’s that simple. Savannah totally got the concept right off and has been doing all kinds of things around the house. Emery, who is not quite old enough to grasp it fully, did figure out early on that if he uses his manners, Mom will add more money to his pile. Let me tell ya, I’ve never heard such a polite 2 year old!

Now, it’s not been perfect and I’ve taken a few coins away, but all in all today has definitely been a better day! And sure, I bribed my children for it, but after 2 days of cold and rain, 2 days of not being in my own home, 2 days of cabin fever, and 2 days of Jeremy out of town, I caved. I bribed. I conquered!!!