It sometimes takes so little to make such a big impression!

We were working on a milestone this week.  Matthew had a whole week last week of smiley faces on his school behavior chart.  I don’t think he had ever strung more than 3 days in a row and here we were with an entire week! 

 Meanwhile, Riley was working on 4 weeks of good reports and I had told him that he could get some P0kemon cards if he hit 4 weeks.  we have severely curtailed the treats lately and they haven’t gotten any cards for probably 5 months.  So, I told Matthew that if he made 2 whole weeks we would get him some Pokemon cards too! 

All week I was worried when I opened his folder – what would I see – smiley face or frowny face?  And how would I approach it with him to avoid the meltdown if he didn’t make it – and there was a good chance that he wouldn’t make it.  Each day, he remembered the rules and would tell me that he got a smiley face (and since I can’t usually trust that he will really remember or understand what was on his calendar) I would look with my heart all tense.  But…HE DID IT!!!!

So, we went to Target after I picked them up – I had to buy a present for a boy in Logan’s class who is having a party tomorrow – and walked through the toy section.  I bought the girls $3 fake electronics (an ipod and a camera); Riley decided to get this ripcord spun tire that goes 100 mph across the street and Matthew picked a Transformer instead of Pokemon cards. 

As we were paying and getting into the car, I said…”Now, I expect good behavior at McD’s or else we are going to go home and eat!” – well, Riley started jumping all over me and kissing me and saying….

Wow, you are the best mom EVER!!! – makes up for the times I have heard “I need a better mom than you”!

It’s the simple things in life!  A $5 toy for a couple weeks of good behavior and McD’s for dinner!

Categories: attachment, Family, Mothering 4