Treasure Box

Thomas has a slight issue at school that we have been working on. The first week of school, he came home and excitedly said "When you talk in class, you get your name on the board!" We eventually got him set straight that your name on the board is not a good thing. In his class, you get a green check each day you don't get your name on the board, along with a reward of Skittles or M&Ms. After a week of green checks, you get the treasure box. We usually do great on the first day of the week. Second day is usually pretty good too. By day three, you can be almost sure we don't have a green check coming home in the homework folder. This was such an issue, that his teacher and I talked about it in our conference at the end of the first quarter. I told her the day he got treasure box I just might take him to Chuck-E-Cheese (nasty place that it is, the kids love it, or at least the idea of it in our case, since he has never been.)

The first week back from break, he had 3 green checks. All we had to do was get one more. Friday, when I asked him if he had a green check, he said he didn't. Rats! He probably lost his green check at 2:00, at the end of the day. So, last week, we tried again. Every day I got oh so excited for each day he had a check. Every day, as I dropped him off, I would remind him to get a green check. Each day he came home with a green check. Friday was the big day. Would he get the treasure box? 3:15, Thomas comes through the door. "Did you get a green check today?" I asked. "I GOT TREASURE BOX!!!" was his excited reply. (Of course, his toy is a most annoying McDonald's Happy Meal toy that plays music. Not like that one can conveniently disappear any time soon.) Finally, after 12 weeks, we finally had a complete week of green checks. Can I just tell you the party I wanted to throw. We called anyone we could think of who knew our battle. Also, I have become a sappy mom. Yes, I nearly wanted to cry I was so excited and proud of him. Instead we just did a Happy Dance.

So, tonight, we are going to CiCi's for dinner. He loves it, and it means I don't have to fix dinner. I think I can manage to pinch the budget enough for this treat. Now, can we do it again this week? Check back and see.