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Put your money where your mouth is

Last fall, we having a small issue with Evan having some accidents at school. I think we could chalk it up to him being a new school with new people and a new routine. I think too that he would wait too long to ask to go - afraid the teacher would say no or he would miss something.

We tried a couple of different methods with him to try to avoid these accidents. We tried tough love, reasoning, taking stuff away, you name it, we tried it with no success.

At the end of our ropes, I thought I'd try a new track with him: incentivizing him. It's a classic, but I thought it might just work.

Together, we laid out a series of rewards he could receive if he achieved a certain number of days accident-free. We needed a big carrot - something for him to work towards. I asked him what's one thing you really want. His answer came quickly - a Nintendo DS and it had to be black. I figured setting it at a high number of days would give him something to shoot for but he'd never get there so the DS was the prize at Day 90.

He reached the smaller rewards quickly. At five days, he could "stay up all night," which in Evan land means stay up until 10 p.m. and fall asleep on the couch watching "How It's Made." 10 days earned him a breakfast trip to Perkins. And so on. We had one stumble in December and the clock re-set - those were the rules.

And so along we all went. Evan did great, and every day after school I'd ask him what day it was.

Last week, Evan reminded me that we were in the 80's, and that I should know what that means.

Today, friends, is Day 90. Tuesday night, I went out and picked up a black Nintendo DS and a few used games. He was with me and helped pick it out, but I told him he couldn't play it unitl Day 90, and he's been very good about the wait.

Of course, I had to test it out after he went to bed. Luckily, I didn't get caught playing it, like I caught my parents playing the Atari 2600 right before Christmas one year. It's fun, and I think he'll like it.

Today, when I get home from work, he can officially take possession of the Nintendo. He's earned it.

The challenge now is him getting complacent. He's gotten to the big milestone and I need to think of something to keep him motivated. I welcome suggestions.

Posted by Mike at April 3, 2008 4:32 PM | Add to del.icio.us