A New Bike

Joyanne was up and dressed this morning, ready to go with Daddy to buy her new bike.

All the kids bikes are falling apart, even after Daddy has tried to fix them several times.

So, this summer, we decided to motivate our kids to earn NEW bikes.

For each chore they do, the kids get a "brownie point".

Some chores are more than one brownie point.

Each day our kids had to earn 3 or 4 brownie points.

James (4 years old) has to earn 50 brownie points to get a new bike.

Jaden (6 years old) and Hiram (7 years old) have to earn 100 brownie points.

Joyanne (11 years old) and Noah (9 years old) have to earn 200 brownie points.

The catch is they lose brownie points, 3 of them, if they are being bad.

So Joyanne finished earning her 200 brownie points yesterday.

Today she is thrilled to have her own, beautiful new bike.

Being a mom was a challenge for me today.

There was more fighting, tattle telling, and whining than usual.

I think my hormones are gettin' to me too.

So I cried this afternoon and tried to nap.

And, I sent the boys, who were the trouble makers, to bed 1/2 hour early.

On the upside, my ears are slowly started to feel better and I'm not dizzy anymore.