Sometimes I think Zach and Tyler don't get equal time on the old blog, but this week is definitely an exception!
On Wednesday the weather was glorious and the boys spent all of their after-school hours playing outside with the neighbor kids. Much of their play time was in our back yard, and when they came in I happily contemplated their successful afternoon.
Then, during dinner, a neighbor mom called. All was not well in paradise. Apparently my boys had broken her son's brand-new (as in new that day) water rifle. Even more disturbing than that news was the revelation that, unbeknownst to me, this kind of thing had happened several times before. I returned to the dinner table with these sad facts. The boys immediately offered shameful confessions. We talked about repentance and restitution and made a plan to buy the neighbor a new toy.
The broken toy cost $4.00 -- a clearance purchase at the Albertson's grocery store. Sadly, we could not find the same toy (or one comparable in style and price) at that location. Given my nausea and fatigue, I decided after conferencing with Garry that we would buy one more-expensive toy from Albertson's and allow that to act as compensation for all of the infractions with this particular neighbor. (The previous plan was to write a check for the other toys, the last of which was broken several months ago.) The next day, Zach and Tyler delivered the $18.00 bow and arrow set to the neighbor boy. He was ecstatic, and the new toy has been the hit of the neighborhood. My boys are not allowed to touch it.
To help drive home the consequence of the their bad behavior, Zach and Tyler had to work off the cost of the new toy. I added 50 cents each to cover tax, so each boy owed me $9.50. Since their piggy banks were empty, the boys paid their debts by doing jobs around the house. I thought it would be amusing to make a record of their slave labor.
Zachary:
Sweep out garage: $1.00
Wipe down all door jams and around all door knobs: $2.00
Remove ballpoint pen mural from mom's bedroom walls: $0.50
Collect all garbage and recycling: $0.75
Read ten books to Gavin and/or Lexi: $1.00
Sweep kitchen/dining room: $1.00
Vacuum upstairs bedrooms: $0.50
Clean off ceiling fan: $1.00
Empty dishwasher: $0.50
Sweep kitchen/dining room (different day): $1.00
Get the mail (down the street): $0.25
Tyler:
Vacuum out van: $3.00
Vacuum stairs: $0.50
Vacuum downstairs rooms: $2.00
Collect hangers: $0.25
Wipe down appliances: $0.50
Wipe table and sweep under it: $0.50
Sweep off back porch: $1.00
Empty recycling container (different day): $0.25
Clean up tub toys: $0.25
Clean out microwave: $0.50
Get the mail (different day): $0.25
Empty dishwasher (different day): $0.50
Please don't tell me if the totals don't add up correctly. I just know that the boys did a lot of menial work around the house and were really grumpy about it. That's proper penance, right?
11 comments:
Good work, mom.
It's perfect, Heidi! What happened is a fear of mine that I'll get that dreaded call that one of the kids broke a window, toy, bike, etc... 'cause my kids are just that way. All kids need to know the importance of respect for other's property, value of money, and how to work hard. Gook work, Mom!
Oh gosh, neighbor drama! I hope it went as smoothly as such a conversation could be expected to go.
(Do you remember the time our boys had to go to Granny's next door neighbor and fish oranges out of their pool? Or the time they had to clean Sharpie off your house, fence, and landscaping? Of course you do.)
I believe they've learned a good lesson. I'll bet they remember it.
Good for you! David had to work off a broken window last year. He was not happy about it, but I hope he learned from it.
This reminds me of the time my son Adam got into a rock throwing fight with the neighbor across the street. He broke another neighbors car window. He ended up having to work off a $100 deductible. Not a fun time. Since then, the two boys have played in the high school band together and are great friends! It's just a distant memory that will be with us all forever.
I'm totally gonna use this with my boys. Kolby, especially, thinks it's fine to break whatever he wants, in a fit of annoyance. Thanks for the help! You do a great job with reward/punishment.
love. this. yesterday we had 'issues' with one of ours and i was searching for chores to keep them repentant. now i am stealing your list of menial tasks. our kids will hate us now but love us later, right?
It can be hard to handle these types of situations but you did great. As you said before, raising boys is not for the faint-hearted.
Raising boys is not for the faint hearted! So many proud parenting moments! You manage 'real life' better than I ever did!
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