10 Pennies For A Dollar

This weekend my husband left for a 3 day 2 night, much needed, guys weekend. So to entice the girls to behave all weekend I gave them 10 pennies each. I instructed each child that if they can be good while dad was gone I would take their 10 pennies and turn it into 4 quarters. See they are trying to save up their money to go on the Merry-Go-Round rides at the Mall and to get ice cream. So I thought this might be a good incentive.

Here were the rules: ever time they fought, screamed at me, or yelled at each other they had to give me 1 penny.

We started Friday morning. The kids earned an extra penny each for sharing the library computer with other kids and leaving the Kids Area without whining. Later, after 2 more stops and 1 store the kids put my words to the test. They had a drag out fight - in the cart - at Costco. I calmly explained the deal again and asked for 1 penny each. Haylee calmly pulled one out of her pocket and placed it in my hand. Rylee fought me for a minute, then understood that I would take 2 pennies if she continued. Then placed her hand in her pocket, pulled out a penny, and calmly placed it in my hand. I then explained that if they were good, they could earn that penny back. They went to bed with 10 pennies.

Saturday was a bit more trying. The 3 stores, 3 stops, and dinner out with Nana and Papa (from Friday) proved to be a bit more exhausting for them than I had planned. While they slept okay, they were grouchy all day! Needless to say, we stayed home most of the day. When we did go out, it was to 2 more store where they lost 1 penny each for not staying with me. BUT they got 2 quarters from Nana and Papa for being good on Friday while we ran our errands :). They went to bed with 9 pennies and 2 quarters.

Today, Haylee woke me up at 12:30am with bot of her ears hurting and with me not feeling 1--% already, were were off to an interesting start. After hitting Jack-In-The-Box for breakfast, the girls got 1 penny each for waiting patiently for the food and saying great prayers! We went into Target to find a specific decongestant for Haylee (everything I had at home failed) and the girls were AMAZING! They both got 1 penny each. Later in the morning we stopped at Safeway for the last few items I had forgotten on Friday. At the store Rylee spotted the balloons and said that Haylee needed one (This was a true statement since they spent most of the morning trying to figure out how to share 1 helium balloon). She got a quarter for her thoughtfulness and kindness and for not getting upset when Mommy told her she couldn't have another balloon.

Once the groceries were put away, the kids handed over their pennies (10 each) and I handed them 4 quarters. The 8 quarters plus the 2 quarters from Nana and Papa, put them over the top! I am happy to announce that we will be going to the Mall next week to ride the Merry-Go-Rounds. :)