May 23, 2011

We got the Fisher Price catalog this weekend, which means Jesse spent most of yesterday go through it with a pen and circling pretty much every toy in it, including a basketball hoop that is clearly superior to ours because he'd be able to dunk on it (like the kid in the picture).  When I informed him that I would not be purchasing every toy in the catalog, he was not simply disappointed, but more completely incredulous that I would deprive him like this.  There were tears involved.  I told him it was a lot of money to buy all those toys.  He informed me that daddy has a credit card.

So I told him that he would have to spend his own money to get what he's decided is the one toy he simply cannot live without, a skateboard with a scooter conversion thingy.  He has $10 and the skateboard is $40.  He asked how on earth he was supposed to get so much money (more tears).  I said he had to ask Daddy for some jobs to do, and then he had to do them, and if he was very good Daddy would give him $1 at the end of the day.  Yeah, I know this goes against my new management training of not using carrots as a reward system.  I hope it doesn't scar him too badly.

So today when I got home, Josh said that Jesse had hustled so much today that he had earned $2!  I was so proud of him that I said I'd pay for half the skateboard and he just has to save up $20.  I was further explaining that this is what I do, I go to work each day so I can get money to buy food and clothes and pay for hot water.

"Really?" he said, "do you get a lot of money?  Like 30?"

So we'll see how he does over the next couple weeks.  Jocelyn wants the same skateboard (only in pink) and Josh made her the same offer, but she wasn't so much into working.  When she was informed that she would not be paid for the day, she had quite a list of people at fault for her poor showing, none of which included her. Oh dear dear dear.