The Bribe

This morning at 7:30 my kiddo's got in my bed and we snuggled and tickled and talked about "things."  Then I told them ... "Hey guys, who wants a dollar?"  Well of course they wanted a dollar, and they wanted to go to Rural King to spend it!  So I bribed them.  IF they get dressed right now and go outside and let me take some pictures before Church ... I'll give them a dollar!  We're into paper money now days .. so it's a real big deal to get a dollar.  Only thing is, they had to earn it ... and that meant wading through the wet weeds to get out to the barn.

Jay.  Money means the most to him.  He'll do anything for money.  He has three jars full and is starting on another jar.  Jay is a hoarder of money ... and it takes a lot for him to spend it.  He doesn't live by the rule of:  save a third, give a third to Jesus and spend a third.  He only wants to save all of it and spend ours or Sam's and Meg's money.  He's going to need to be deprogramed when he grows up.  He's a lot like his Father in that respect.

Sam.  He LOVES money.  It buys him everything.  He couldn't keep a penny if his life depended on it.  He's too much like me in that respect ... and he's going to need to be reprogrammed to save some of it.  He doesn't per say spend it on stuff, because we all know he can't drive to Target and do his thing ... but he loses it.  He moves it around from his backpack to his pants pockets, to burying it in the sandbox, then it finds it's way to Jay's jar.  It's miraculous how it gets there ... but it does. ... and you know the rule:  possession is everything in Jay's book.

Meg.  What's money?  She doesn't need it.  A dollar won't do her a bit of good because everything that she wants cost more than she is allowed to spend.  Walking the aisles with Meg is like the biggest guilt trip I've ever experienced.  She fingers and touches and strokes everything that is pink, and wants everything that is remotely girly.  ... and she hasn't learned the meaning of the word NO yet.  We're working on that.  Meg is bad at leaving her money lay around the house, and it too mysteriously disappears.

So today I got some pictures of them that I can print and frame ... and Jay got THREE DOLLARS and they all ended up with a really big bouncy ball to add to the collection out in the yard!  It was a WIN WIN situation for all of us!