My Kids

This is a first for us and I had to share because it made me laugh:-) My boys have had a hard time readjusting to our busy life and schoolwork....ok they have been lazy in turning in their homework:-P My youngest is a girl so this doesn't apply to her....she just LOVES school! Anyway, I had this deal with my boys....My oldest is an A student so I had told him he could keep his hair long unless he came home with a C and that C would mean crewcut :-D I honestly didn't expect him to do that but I thought it would be enough to keep him on his toes...the other son would lose tv and that includes FridayNightSmackdown if he brought home a C....So I had conferences with the two youngest ones teachers and I find out that my middle child has been goofing off and his grades weren't the honor roll grades that I expect from him so he has consequences and that included losing TV. My oldest son hadn't even gotten his report card and he went ahead and grounded himself!! I am not kidding! This child was convinced he was bringing home a bad grade and asked for a haircut and took away his cellphone and tv from himself! For the past two weeks he has been a model student and yesterday he calls me and says "Mom I don't have to be grounded anymore because I got my report card and it was FINE! I didn't get a bad grade" I am laughing because *I* didn't ground him! I do think this was a wake up call for the boys though because grades have never been an issue for them and both have been putting in extra time to do homework...My younger son even turned in his book report early. I am enjoying the fact that the tv hasn't been on in over a week and they don't miss it. My oldest ungrounded himself yesterday and still hasn't watched it lol Silly kids! In other news I have been trying to figure out a way to give my kids a little spending money without it being allowance because I don't believe in paying my children to be citizens of the household...BUT I also want them to learn how to budget and they have to have money to do that...see my dilemma?? SOOOOO I came up with something that seems to be working for us...I have offered the children $.50 a Bible verse and they can earn up to $5.00 a week. They jumped all over that and the best part is I am not picking the verses so it has been interesting to see what they come up with! Please don't email me and tell me I shouldn't bribe my children to learn scripture because I don't care lol I was a buskid that ONLY went because someone offered to swallow a goldfish and it worked:-) It is also cute to see the different ways they learn. My oldest decided to pick an entire passage and put it to music. My middle child seems to have my memory so he just reads it and remembers. My youngest wrote hers down on paper and quizzed herself till she knew it. Of and they can't just tell me ONE time they have to still know it whenever I ask and they get paid on Fridays after they tell me the verse and location one more time. I guess the very best part is not only are they learning scripture but I am too because I have to know if they are right or not:-D