Marvie's Crochet Corner

He did it!! =)

Today was the last day of school and the kiddo got his report card. Some of you will remember that he had a deal with his dad that if he had A's and/or B's he'd get his PS2 back. Well he did it =) He got all B's, even in Math! I am so damn proud of him =) As my personal reward to him, I am allowing him to skip his hard labor today to attend an End of the Year Party at a friend's house today. It's a huge affair and will be tons of fun for him. He's worked hard the past few weeks doing his hard labor, he's stayed out of trouble, and he's done three things that impressed us. Knowing his stealing history it was especially impressive. He found some cash in the cup holder of my chair that is in the hallway outside our front door (the neighbor had put it there because we'd picked some stuff up for them at the store) and B told me it was there but didn't touch it. That happened twice. The third thing was he found a watch on the ground outside and brought it to us. this impressed me because he has two watches, both of which he has to keep in his pocket because the bands are messed up, so he could have tried to keep the watch... but he did't. Every book I have read and my own common sense says to reward good behavior, so reward I shall =)

B was/is so proud of himself, he couldn't wait for hubby to get home from work so we called him so B could tell him about his grades. Hubby congratulated him and told him he'd earned the privilege of his PS2 back, though he still has to earn a TV (which was also part of the original deal.) He even made a big deal out of sharing the good news with the people in his office, and our boy is a Leo so he really loves getting attention (from anyone lol) so that really made his day. Then when hubby got back on the phone with me he said that we can use the PS2 as a reward for when B does well on his work etc. by giving him an hour or so on our family TV. I am glad he thought of that and think it's a great plan =) I've been making a list of things we can do as rewards for good behavior and work etc. so this can go on the list. Other things on the list include allowing him to watch a movie or cartoons, computer time, a trip by himself to Pizza Hut (which is just around the corner here on base and is a huge reward because of his actions last summer) extra time outside, letting him cook dinner (he really loves to cook) and things of that nature.

I'm also working on a point system, where he'll earn points for jobs done, certain behaviors etc. and when he earns a set amount of points we will let him purchase a new PS2 game, CD, movie, go to the movies, for a really large amount of points I'm thinking of redecorating his bedroom and letting him choose the theme or whatever (within a set budget) or other things that cost money. Each reward will have a certain amount of points and he can choose to save his points up for big things or use them up on smaller things. (I read this idea in one of the parenting books I checked out from the library)

Speaking of library books... I have to recommend a book to anyone who has a boy (even an adult one lol like a hubby or boyfriend rofl) in their life.

The book is called A Fine Young Man written by Michael Gurian. He's written several books about boys and I now want to read the others as well. I'm only into the second section of this book and I am already begining to understand my males a LOT better. Now, this book is geared towards adolescent males more so than younger boys, but he is calling adolescence from age 9 or 10 on, so it's perfect for me right now. In the book he talks a lot about biology, brain function, and how guys brains and bodies really work. As I said, I'm not very far into the book, and its full of other information too.

So on that note, I am going to take the book and find a nice sunny spot outdoors to read =) I hope ya'll are having a good week and that you have a wonderful weekend =)

posted by Marvie at 4:45 AM