Still, we forged ahead and attended the city parks & recreation department's annual Easter egg hunt.
These kind of events always amuse me because they make me realize how bizarre some of our holiday traditions really are. "Here kids- when we say 'go', run out there with all the other children and try to grab as much candy off the ground as you can. Then you can eat it. Right- just eat the candy off the ground."
My kids did ok, but some children were crying! Either because of the cold, or because they were scared of the crowd, or they were just plain confused!
The whole thing was over within 10 minutes. The boys had grabbed 2 pieces of candy each, but some of the organizers were walking around with baskets of candy, dumping handfuls into the pitiful, non-competitive children's baskets, so they still scored plenty of sweets.
Saturday afternoon we colored eggs. For years, it seems, I have purchased eggs and dye, only to be disappointed when no one wanted to color eggs. But this year I was pleasantly surprised. Kate, Thomas, Bill and I all did some coloring. Henry still didn't want to actually participate, but he danced around the table and kept announcing "we are coloring Easter eggs!" We actually went back to the store for another dozen eggs.Sunday we went to church and had another candy egg hunt in the house. Sunday night Bill and I stayed up until 11 (very late for me!) watching the past 2 episodes of Lost that we had recorded. All in all, a very nice family weekend.
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Henry woke up yesterday morning saying that he wanted to get the movie Bionicle 3: Web of Shadows. I think it must be previewed on one of his other movies, because he's not otherwise a bionicle fan (whatever the hell a bionicle is?)
He really wouldn't let go of the subject, so I tried to think fast and told him that, when he got 10 stars on the chore chart, he could get the movie. The "chores" are things like feed the turtles, put away your clothes, do homework, so he could conceivably earn the movie by the end of the week. I could really be in trouble if he started wanting a $20 reward once a week!
Fortunately for me, I guess, but unfortunately for him, Henry's stubborn resistance to any and all requests is making this a tough goal to reach.Yesterday he helped throw a pile of dirty laundry down the chute. After I asked him about 10 times. And that was the only star he earned yesterday. He read his homework book, but refused to do the accompanying worksheet.
I heard him and Bill arguing about the homework while I was giving Thomas his bath. I headed downstairs just in time to hear Henry snarl "you little fool." !!!!!! Directed at his father!!!
Of course this is a script from one of his movies, but how funny! I mean, funny but inappropriate to call one's father a fool...
So I'm not sure how well this reward system is going to work. It seems to make Henry extra anxious- he worries about earning a star or not earning a star. He woke up this morning talking about Bionicle and about his homework. (The homework isn't due until Friday, so we still have time to do it.)
I think that homework is stressful enough for him without adding the "you'll get a star" incentive. I thought it might motivate him, but instead I fear it makes him think "I don't want to do this homework but now if I don't I won't get a star and I won't get a movie and I really want that movie but I really don't want to do my homework" etc....
As I'm writing this, I'm realizing that I should modify the reward- we could just rent the movie or borrow it from the library. Then if he does start earning a reward every week I won't go bankrupt.
One other interesting thing about the "chore chart": we had filled all but one of the columns with jobs. Henry was very troubled by the last, blank, space. He kept asking me to please fill in the last job. I found it intriguing that he wanted all the spaces to be filled. I guess he just wants to know what he's up against. I couldn't think of a good one, so I finally just wrote in the catch-all "help mom and dad". Too late I realized that I should have written "eat vegetables"! Maybe next week.
Here's hoping I can stay up to watch Lost tonight. I've been doomed ever since they moved it to 10 pm.
9 comments:
The DVR is my best friend.
I love the Easter pics. It was "cold" here, too. (relatively speaking)
They've been doing a chart-like idea at school, where Conor has to earn puzzle pieces for a reward. It's not working so well.....
So glad that you had a wonderful Easter and that you guys colored the eggs. I love the pics! Griffin doesn't seem to get the earning a star or sticker thing yet, I think that the whole concept is too complex for him right now. I have tried to use the computer or the tv as a reward but he just doesn't get it. What am I doing wrong? Maybe he is still a bit too young yet and maybe I just need to have more patience. Maybe I am under estimating him and he has me under his thumb. Take Care Gretchen and hugs to all of you guys.
I can see what you mean about how having to earn stickers can just add to making homework even more stressful than it already is. Like we know, all of our kids respond differently to different teaching strategies. You seem to be able to read Henry well, so just keep following that mothers intuition of yours. Henry just continues to do so well which is so nice to hear.
We did an egg hunt on our vacation at a park with kids. They had it separated and roped off into different age groups. I was with Brother-roo and Paparoo was with Roo. Paparoo said that once he opened an egg to show Roo that there was candy inside the eggs, he went nuts picking up all the eggs and putting them in his bag. Just proves that motivation can make a big difference with my guy.
Love the pics of your boys and glad to hear you had a nice time coloring eggs. We never did that this year. I bought the kit to color the eggs with, but just haven't done it. Maybe today since it is a rainy day here.
We have found that sticker charts are good in our family for specific goals. If we try to use one more than that, it backfires.
And to help you with your Bionicle troubles - here is Kyle's newest: http://www.familyfrisch.com/miscpics/2007/apr07/axxonn.jpg
But he really prefers to build his own made up ones :o) The movies are about these characters - in the traditional battles of good vs evil
hmmm the link cut off :o)
the last bit should be:
axxonn.jpg should you be so inclined to view him.
I love the Easter pictures. It did look cold there. It snowed here! But, luckily we visited the grandparents where it was still cold, but no snow!
I wish I could help on the chore chart with Henry. It sounds like Henry just needs it tweaked a bit. It's finding what works and what doesn't that can be the biggest challenge.
Kristin
Hey, Gretchen. I sent you an e-mail, I hope you get it! We had a rough Easter but maybe next year will be better!
I hope the chore chart works. It's interesting how something works for awhile and then it doesn't or it just needs some heavy duty tweaking. We've been using a token reward system (poker chips, worth 25 cents each) for a couple of years now with great success. However, the system seems to have lost some of its luster recently, so I'm currently trying to re-evaluate.
The pictures of the kiddos are so cute! Oh how I wish we had snow here, a wintery snow day would be so awesome! It must be beautiful in Winter time:)
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