Bribery & Bed Jumping

I've recently gotten a Parenting magazine with an article about why it's OK to bribe your chidlren into doing what you need them to do. That makes us feel better. Here's why.

Last evening, I had a late appointment at the office, so Jason and Joshua spent the supper hour together at home. I had a pot roast in the crockpot with carrots and potatoes and figured that they would be soft enough for Joshua to have for supper. He ate pretty well, but Jason later told me how he accomplished this feat. He said, "Honey, we're going to have to get the Backyardigans for Joshua's next birthday." I said, "Huh?" And that's when he explained that he had promised Joshua that if he ate another bite he'd make sure the Backyardigans were at his birthday party. Apparently he also used Teddy Grahams as a bribe, which worked well. Immediate reward, so Joshua probably figured, "Cool. One bite of carrot...one bear cookie. One potato...one cookie." I'm pretty sure that under these arrangements, he's going to want Daddy to feed him all the time. I laughed so hard!

I also have to report that I've begun singing a new song every morning when Joshua wakes up. "One little monkey jumping on the bed!" Joshua gets a good chuckle out of the part that goes "Mama called the doctor and the doctor said- NO MORE MONKEYS JUMPING ON THE BED!" This morning was the third morning in a row that I have found him in his crib jumping up and down when I went to get him. He's not holding on to anything besides Bear, and he's just smiling away and jumping up and down. Lovely. When I mentioned it to Judy this morning, she said that he had done the same thing yesterday at nap time. So something tells me that there may be a few bruises coming courtesy of the crib railings when he bangs his noggin off of the crib. And I'm sure it will also come in perfect timing to have a big goose egg when he goes for his 15 month checkup on the 29th.

In other news, we've now graduated into the 18 month section of the closet without having to roll over the tops of Joshua's pants. So there's some growth going on--- we'll just have to wait and see how he measures up at his check up.

I apologize for not having pictures today. I did snap a few this morning before I left, but the camera batteries have since taken their last breath leaving me with no way to share. So forgive me if you can. More soon.