Saturday rewards
I've assigned the boys home work outside their homework in order to earn some points. We let them gain or lose points, in the form of flattened glass beads, over the course of the week in order to earn priviliges - most frequently, video game time. One bead equals 5 minutes of gaming.
For example, in order to try to trick them into better morning self-motivation, I am doling out points for getting ready for the school bus well ahead of time. They get fewer points if they have to be reminded of the things we expect them to do, like clear the table or feed the fish. Part of the hope is that they start to learn to take care of things more and more themselves without constant prompting, part of it is I am tired of hearing my own voice telling them what to do or feeling like a crazy women trying to sweep them out the front door.
They have been reading and enjoying a hard bound pair of comic books called the Stickman Odyssey (I think). So now the boys are doing a writing assignment to gain a half hour of video games. Each had to write 5 sentences. They both have their attention issues and getting the two of them to stay on task and not drive me nuts is challenging. I'm trying to write this while they write, and it's pretty hard to bang out a coherent sentence with their need to make noise, wiggle, ask questions, and get into conversations that are tangential to the task at hand.
I have to be honest, my motivations for letting them have an hour of video games are mixed. It gives me an hour I might be able to ignore them entirely. It doesn't always work out that way, since if they play the game together, they often get into arguments. I pay for their free time (which in turn has the potential to become my partially freer time) too. By justifying that their doing something which is good for them - the reading and writing - is payment that qualifies them for goofing off - I myself have to work; pushing them thru a beneifical task is in itself a bigger commitment of my energy and motivation than if I just let them play in their room. So that's how I pay for my free time in my own internalized system of self-motivation.
How will I spend my free time, presuming I actually get any of it? Cleaning in the basement. Doubt it will happen, the girls are insane today.