Luke's Progression Chart for good behavior. Each star represents good behavior/good decisions and Luke got to put a star on each ball. It took AWHILE to get there, but we finally made it. FYI...the next chart requires about half as many stars.
Luke picked to go get ice cream with Daddy!
Liam and Luke on a big rock at the park
AJ loves to swing
Here is what the rest of us were doing while Daddy and Luke got ice cream. They actually love to help clean house so I wouldn't say it was "work" necessarily. Liam is great with the vacuum.
I mentioned a few weeks ago that we recently began a very simple reward system for the boys. They get to put a star on a progression chart when they make good decisions and show good behavior. The stars "progress" towards a goal and then they receive a reward. The stars are not for doing just the normal stuff like sharing, listening, picking up toys, etc..., but rather for doing things "above and beyond" what is expected of them. For example, if they share something with their brother without having to be asked or if they picked up toys on their own without having to be reminded. We did, however, decide midway through the most recent chart that we would have to start giving stars a little more liberally otherwise this process was going to take forever! The first chart had 21 basketballs and the boys needed to put a star on each ball in order to move closer to the basketball goal. It is often difficult to find things to motivate them, but they have been very motivated to make better choices with these charts and that has been fun to see. The reward after completing their chart was to pick something they wanted to do alone with either John or I. For example, they could go get ice cream, go to the grocery store, go to a park, read a book, play a game, take a trip to the library, etc...The goal of these rewards was two-fold: one, it gives John and I a chance to be with each of the boys one on one; and two, it gives the boys some incentive for good behavior. This week, Luke was the first one to reach his goal (Liam is currently one star away from his goal) so he was able to pick a reward. He chose to go get ice cream with Dad and John said he never stopped smiling or talking the entire time.
In other news this week, we had what will likely always be referred to as the "maple syrup incident" in future years. John suggested I post this on the blog because years from now we will likely forget that it ever happened and because while this may seem "normal" to us, it might be humorous to others. Well, John was at work when the incident happened, but I am pretty sure I will never forget in the years to come! Nonetheless, we were downstairs in the basement after lunch and trying to burn off some energy yesterday. It was very windy and a little rainy so we had the bounce house out and the boys were jumping around. Even though the basement is a great space to play hockey or jump in the bounce house on yucky dates, it also has a lot of areas where the boys can't play. Aiden is tricky in the basement because he typically does not do the bounce house for very long. Yesterday was no exception when Aiden got out after jumping for maybe 5-10 minutes and started getting into things that he is not supposed to play with. He climbed up the shelves in the downstairs refrigerator and found large bottle of maple syrup. Once I saw what was in his hand, it was really too late. It was a little like slow motion as he dropped the entire bottle of maple syrup on the concrete basement floor and it broke in several pieces spilling maple syrup everywhere. Luke was crying because he was covered in syrup (as was his beloved doggy), Liam was crying because it was so loud, and Aiden was crying because he knew he was in trouble! Let me tell you firsthand that maple syrup makes a huge sticky mess!!! Not that you didn't already know that, but I have no pictures to prove it.
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