We recently had to make a modification to our "daily rewards system"


Point 1: If the boys do not lose any stars during an entire day, they get an extra special reward. I used to have a basket of stuff like stickers, dollar match-box cars, big pieces of gum etc that they could choose from if they had a "perfect day".

Point 2: They quickly tired of the little do-dads in that basket.

Point 3: they always want stuff wherever we go (as do most kids, right?)

Point 4: In an effort to provide them with some spending money (and to provide me with the ability to say "use your own money" when they ask for everything under the sun), I toyed with the idea of an allowance...I'm actually a bit torn on that whole concept....especially for 2-year-old Aiden.

For example, here is a conversation that I had with Logan.
me: "you're going to start getting money every week called an allowance. You can keep some for yourself, put some aside for savings and put some aside for charity".
logan: "what is charity?"
me: "that's when you save and give money to other people who really need it for food, cloths and important stuff like that...people who don't have enough money of their own"
logan: "but I don't WANT to give my money to other people"
me: (sigh)
logan: "what is savings?"
me: "that's money that you keep and spend later....on important stuff like college"
logan: "but I don't WANT to go to college....I just want an eight-dollar transformer!"

I'm not kidding....that was our conversation word for word on the subject of an allowance! So....I proposed the idea to Brian of having "perfect day money" instead (cheaper for us...more incentive for the boys to obey the rules!) We put $1 in a little container each time anyone has a "perfect day" <-- I'm not fond of the word "perfect" because I don't believe in actual perfection and hate to emphasize that, but whatever...it works for now. Logan totally gets the concept. Aiden just keeps spending his money on "Aiden stuff" (last week he bought a tiny, heart-shaped slinky...which he promptly broke....and a pack of stickers, also heart shaped <-- he was on a kick I guess).

Today, we went to Target for yet more party supplies, another training potty for the house, and a tour through the toy aisles. The boys (and here I mean Logan) were anxious to see if there was anything they wanted in exchange for their hard-earned cash. You can't go to Target without going to the toy aisles...unfortunately for me! Logan already knew what he wanted to buy today....

...we were all recently introduced to Bakugan (older brother to Pokemon) at our friend Peter's house (Peter is a year older than Logan). I actually think these things are pretty cool. They are supposed to be a game (based on a cartoon) which is, most likely, way beyond my level of comprehension, let alone that of a 4 year old. They are these little balls that "transform" into different creatures when you put them on their special cards (or anything made of metal). There are a gazillion different ones and, best of all, they are about $5.00 which is the perfect amount of money for Logan to save before he just can't stand to save anymore <-- he earns that amount in around 2 weeks. There are also Bakugan shooters (load in the balls and shoot them out), Bakugan carrying cases etc. I see a whole new level of obsession about to begin with this one! I don't think we'll be watching the cartoon in the near future...it looks a bit violent so...for now we'll just play with the little creatures....cool enough!

I had almost convinced Aiden not to spend his current bank-roll of a whopping three bucks, but he saw some Easter window clings in the card aisle as we were making our way towards the check out and just HAD to have them (speaking of HAD to have....I must go back to Target very soon and check out the new collection of mommy-esk bathing suits that were just put out - way cute this year!)


PICTURES!!

Logan (ironically wearing a shirt he just inherited from Peter...said introducer of Bakugan)





What a camera hog! I wanted to take a picture of Aiden playing with the window clings and Logan ran over to smush his face in too!







In other news: Brady! This kid is miraculous sometimes! He will just wake up and goof around in his crib for up to an hour! Today I found him like this, sideways, turning his aquarium on and off with his little feet. All I could see were his toes when I walked in. He is my sunshine! PS I always have him drink his milk before he gets out of bed because otherwise he just can't concentrate to finish it. And yes....still with the bottle. He can do sippy cups, but only drinks a tiny bit so...better to get the milk in the kid than to fuss with the sippy cup thing.

And our top story this week: crazy times in San Fran. Auntie Denna has been dealing with some harsh work stuff this week (layoffs etc). She was bummin' BIG time (as was I!!) on Monday. I remembered these pictures from my favorite magazine, WonderTime. I had already thrown the hard copy away, but also subscribe on-line so I looked up this article: Stages of Grief as Demonstrated by Peas (the story from the magazine is adorable - its about a little boy who hates peas, but is forced to eat them anyway).

These pictures are horrible....sorry! I took them with my phone and mailed them to myself (and to Denay...to make her laugh <-- things are OK now so we're not in the stages of grief anymore!) I just have to share them because I think they are so cute. Stage 1: Disbelief Stage 2: Anger
Stage 3: Bargaining
Stage 4: Depression
Stage 5: Acceptance