parenting failure #4,632....or something like it.

Actual mileage may vary, you know.

Remember my post from the other day? All that trouble that we seem to be having getting C to walk the "straight and narrow"? Of course you do.

I'm here to tell you that as the parent of a very strong-willed 7-year old, I have sunk to a new low. The really sad part is that it didn't even work. *sigh*

In my frustration the other night, I resorted to bribery. Yep, that's right folks, bribery. I told that kid that *if* he were to sit nicely on the bus, both to and from school, AND if he behaves as he were expected in the classroom, he'd receive a reward.

The reward? I'm getting to that. Patience, grasshopper.

We have struggled mightily to find this kid's currency. You know, the thing that makes the light come on and he thinks, "Man, I gotta behave."

Losing a stuffed animal didn't seem to be it. Monkey the Snake came to us from the Lincoln Park Zoo in Chicago and he has been on vacation for the last 2 weeks. Because my children do not read this blog, I can tell you that Monkey was not on a permanent vacation, as it were. He's relaxing in the cupboard. And my guess would be that his very wise vacation destination is why we haven't seen any of Mickey's relatives yet this fall.

*knocks feverishly on wood*

***I know that I just jinxed myself. From wherever you are, you'll be able to hear me scream. I promise.***

So, my thinking was that I'd tap into that child's love of dessert. Namely ice cream. Remember, I said they don't take after strangers....ahem. So, I told him that *IF* I got a good report from school, or NO report as the case may be, I'd see to it that before bed, he could have a bowl of cookies and cream covered in chocolate syrup. Yum.

Of course, his eyes lit up right away at that suggestion.

And whaddaya know, it worked. Except he got distracted by a piece of chocolate (proof, of course, that he is my son) and decided that it was good enough. It wasn't until I was tucking him into bed that he remembered that he'd been promised ice cream for good behavior.

I used it to my advantage, of course, and just told him that he could use the free ice cream the next day, if he behaved.

Here's the part of the story where we are back to square one. You guessed it, he didn't remember that he'd been promised ice cream; and worse yet, the bus driver threatened to go to the principal over the behavior of several of the boys on the bus, ours included.

And his classmates were briefly entertained by the spectacle of him hanging upside down in his chair.

Oy. That kid takes after his father. ;)