Tuesday, March 24, 2009

The Bribe

Yep.

Don't judge me.

It's come to this.

If Big Brother (who is freaking 5 years old) sleeps in his bed 'all night wong' then he will be the new proud owner of a Hot Wheels car.

Yep, I said it. And I'm going to follow through.

It's worth the buck to get a good night's rest (and Daddy is about to shoot me b/c I have let him in bed with us too much!).

I actually went to the Dollar Store in my pj's (Daddy called me white trash as I left the house). I had on fleece pants, VAIL tshirt and flip flops. I didn't think it looked like pj's necessarily, but hell, I didn't care. They didn't have 'feet' in them for crying out loud! Just think of it as the Lounge Pants that Clemsongirl always talks about...yet mine are striped. Love and Labs probably knows exactly what clothes I'm talking about too--I've had them so long.

Enough about my attire and back to the issue at hand. Big Brother wants to sleep in our bed because as he states with his darling blue eyes all a-flutter, "I can't stop finking (thinking) about you and Daddy and I want to snuggle and I want to be wif you."
And look at this face--he is so precious, sweet, snugly and yummy! How am I supposed to say no?
So he's not scared. No nightmares (at least not in the last couple of days).
I'm trying positive reinforcement first. He also got a new nightlight.

If that doesn't work, then I'm beating him.....JUST KIDDING!
PS I bought 6 --figure if I give him one each morning that by Day 6 I can move on to something more simple--like candy! (Wean him slowly...)
PSS I didn't look out of place at all at The Dollar Store.....trust me. It's South Georgia and I had all my front teeth. (No offense.)

8 comments:

Jill said...

Girl, I am so with you on the snuggly cuteness of little boys. And also with you on best-dressed attire at Dollar Store. One notch up from Wal-Mart, or not?

Pretty Personal Gifts said...

Bribes are good! I did that with both my girls otherwise they would still be sleeping with me at 9 and 8 years old. I let them pick out new pajamas and clothing. They got a new outfit everytime they made it through the night. If they came in to my bed, they had to give up the new pajamas or clothing that they earned the night before and got nothing the next day. One night I made one of them take her pj's off and change when she came into my bed. That sent her right back to her bed. She did not want to part with the beloved pj's... If only I had thought of something cheaper! You're so much wiser than I was!!!

Sandra said...

Oh don't feel bad at all about bribes! I used them - even though BEFORE I had children I said I would NEVER do such things!! haha - I used M&M's - worked magic with the potty training! haha

LovesPINKandPEARLS said...

hahaha! thats a great idea! i used to bribe the kids i nanny for with trips to coldstone if they napped, very successful, i should have thought of the hotwheels!

Slacker Mama said...

We're big fans of bribery Chez Slacker. At one point we had a sticker chart where E would get a sticker for every night that she went to bed without throwing a major tantrum (we were in the "One more book!" phase). Then we moved onto money. We'd put a coin by their piggy banks at night and if they went down w/o a fight *AND* slept through the night, they got to put it in their piggies in the morning.

Good luck!

Belle (from Life of a...) said...

You go for it. My kids were raised on bribery and they turned out just fine. Although every once in awhile when my Lorelai has had a particular tough task to accomplish she will call and say, "I think I deserve a prize!" She generally gets one!

Mom of One and Another on the Way said...

I think this is an excellent idea. I am going to borrow it right away. Our 2.5 year old son is super sweet to cuddle with and he says the sweetest things. How can I resist. Maybe this bribery thing will work and we get on with becoming a "mom of two". :)
Your readers all have great advice.

Surf Girl said...

I won't judge - our house is the home of bribery. We got through potty training with a whole rewards chart complete with a prize every week. I was planning on blogging on this very thing today. I have to tell you I am so glad someone else has this problem. Mine will be 5 tomorrow and I cannot get him out of my bed!!! He's getting really original with the excuses too. :)