i'm gonna be broke!

"ashlyn will sleep every week and shel get for 1 week 10 dollars."
(not quite the real contract, but a good reminder she wrote to herself on her dry erase board in her bedroom.)

props to doug for a little creative parenting exercise.

it's been almost 3 weeks since this contract was first agreed upon, and she hasn't breeched it once.

UNBELIEVABLE folks.

it was all doug's idea, something the two of them agreed upon. if she goes to bed 1. by herself, 2. by 9pm everynight, 3. no exceptions.....then she gets paid $10 AND he will pick her up from school everyday instead of her riding the bus. if she misses one day that she loses the whole $10. now that she knows the value of money and watches her balance grow and deplete, it's quite the incentive. although, being picked up trumphs earning money in her book. she hates riding the bus with a passion.

being paid $10 won't last forever. 10 weeks max, doug says. but she's excited at the possibility of watching her money grow.

it might sound quite ridiculous to some that we have to have a contractual agreement with ashlyn to get her to sleep by herself in her own room, in her own bed, and be asleep before 1AM in the morning. but, to us.........it's the only thing that's worked. and believe me when we say we've tried EVERYTHING. sometimes you just have to rob peter to pay paul.

and the meltdowns in the morning are becoming fewer now that she's getting 11 hours of sleep and knows that daddy will pick her up. just one little way his early work shift has made our days a little brighter around here.