The kids take turns chosing some songs to sing, We have a brief lesson, and then a quick snack before bed. The lesson I teach each week is always the same. Sure, the story might be different but the message is always one about Reverance.
Infact, I'm pretty sure that we've been FOCUSING on this topic for about a year now. We need to. Have you ever sat by my family in Sacrament meeting? I'm not kidding- it's bad. Really Really bad. (One day I will try to work up the courage to describe a typical Sunday meeting on our bench. But it is only tuesday today. The memory of this past Sunday are still to raw for me to talk about;)
So reverance it is. Week ...after...week. I'm confident that one day it is all going to sink into their adorable little heads.
However, last night, FHE was a little different. Abby has been asking for awhile now if she could have a turn to teach the lesson some time. So, due to my good natured personality, (aka lack of preparation), we left it all up to her.
So Abby gets up, and in her very professional and mature tone of voice, showed us her home made egg carton piggy bank. She talked to us all about the importance of saving money, paying our tithing, and "NOT spending all of our money on gum balls like SAM always wants to do!" She talked about what we should save up for, like clothes, a mission, or college, or perhaps a little bit for a toy at the dollar store. . .Abby then presented an egg carton for each of the kids to decorate so they could make their own piggy bank and start saving money.
I was impressed with all Abby said, and tried very hard not to smile too much as she spoke. It would have thrown off her groove -but darn she was cute! As Abby's lesson grew to a close I realized that FHE was about to end with out our mandatory discussion on reverence. No! It had to be discussed. Atleast mentioned! But how? And then I had the greatest idea. It was truly a Eureka sort of moment. The answer to all of our Sunday troubles. The solution to our Sacrament meeting dilemna.
When Abby finished her lesson I quickly shared the idea that had just come to me. Now that they had their own piggy banks, I vowed that I was going to start paying them a financial reward every now and then. A WHOLE penny when they help with a chore, get dressed on their own, or do something kind for eachother. To top it all off - if they are reverant in Sacrament meeting- they get a whole quarter!!!
The kids were ALL over it!! For the rest of the evening they practically fought over who got to throw the garbage away, and load the dishwasher. They practically fought over who got us diapers for Nate. They practically fought over who got to go to bed first without being told! Until I offered a penny to whomever stopped fighting. ...It worked!!!
This is genius. Isn't it?
Now, I realize that this very well might be the epitomey of bad parenting. I am quite certain that somewhere in some book that good parents read, (that I've never read before), there is a chapter on how to teach your children proper habits and principles without teaching them to rely on a reward.
I am also aware that this is going to cost us some money. I sat down last night once they went to bed and did the math. Factoring Nathan into the equation, we will eventually be paying out one dollar every Sunday. That is 52 dollars a year, and by the time Nathan is 18 - I will have paid out 936 dollars in Sacrament meeting Bribe money alone!
Is that so awful?
Or just so totally worth it?
2 comments:
That's a GREAT idea! I like it a lot. Can abby come teach our FHE?
I love Abby's lesson...and how you twisted it. That's good mothering right there!
We do pennies for rewards too but the kids start with a certain amount and when they fight, misbehave, are unruly or irreverent(!), we take a small handful out. At the end of two weeks we count what is left and they get the equivalent and we start all over with the total amount of pennies in their jar again. Most of the time the threat of losing pennies is enough for them to stop misbehaving. I find it easier to take away than try to add all the time...much too easy for me to forget to add and then they get mad because they don't seem to have very many.
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