Wonderful evening with the boys!

Silly Mom & Logan  (Carson is photographer)

 So, for those of you who missed it, I recently quit my job as a pharmacist and became a stay-at-home mom to our two crazy boys! To be honest with you all, I was scared to death to have quit my job...I was in tears! I knew it was the right thing to do, but I was very scared...scared that I would just be a crazy, screaming and hollering kind of stay-at-home mom. Our boys have had their own set of behavioral challenges and I was afraid that I wasn't up for the challenge.

Silly mom & Carson (Logan is photographer) 

It has been 5 weeks since my last day of work and I am happy to report that I am LOVING my new job!!  I am getting tons of stuff done (I've redecorated and painted Logan's room, re-stained the outside play structure, helped to add additional wood chips to the play area outside, yard work, touch-up painted the entire interior of the house, cleaned out the garage and computer room, donated to Goodwill and have gone to the gym about 5 times a week (and have lost 7 pounds....YAY for me!)), am here for the boys before and after their 1/2 days school programs and became a soccer mom (with 4 days of either practices or games a week between the two boys)!!  WOW....that's a lot of stuff for 5 weeks!

This past summer we started working with a behavioral therapist through The Institute for Family Development (recommended by our developmental pediatrician) to tackle some of the boys' behavior challenges.   When we started, I was depressed and very down on my parenting abilities and was completely overwhelmed on how to even begin to tackle these issues.  After some hard and persistent work with the therapist, I have become more confident in my parenting abilities and now have a better plan for how to handle the boys.  This is HUGE and it has made a significant difference in my ability to happily be home with the boys.  I am very thankful for Hannah's help! 

Our home life has become more organized and relaxed and you can really see a HUGE difference in the boys and in our home!

So, one thing that I started doing (idea from our therapist) was giving the boys poker chips for doing certain things that I WANT to see (not peeing their bed, brushing their teeth WITHOUT complaining, staying in their room at bedtime and for any little things that I see throughout the day that deserve recognition).  The boys collect their poker chips in a small jar and when the jar has been filled, they get to go to the dollar store and buy ONE item.  Pretty simple, huh?  Well, let me tell you, the boys are bending over backwards for poker chips!  They are picking up each other's clothes off the ground, being nice and helpful to each other (most of the time) and helping mom when asked to help!  And....it "costs" me ONE DOLLAR!  YIKES...I should have started this eons ago!  Amazing...

So, tonight I made dinner and dessert (I rarely make dessert).  The boys gobbled up their dinner and were anxious to have some of that yummy chocolate dessert that mom made.  But, I got clever....there were dishes all over the kitchen and dishes in the dishwasher that needed to be put away.  I told the boys that if they help me with the dishes then they could have some dessert.  They BOTH say, "OK mom!"  Hmmm....really?  You're going to help me?  You guys ROCK!  So, we all started tackling the dishwasher and before I knew it, Carson was hand washing some pots and pans and Logan was spraying down the counters with 409!  OMG!!  I was in heaven!  All over dessert?  Really?  I ought to make dessert more often!

After the boys helped clean the kitchen and ate their dessert (and Carson even hand-delivered a bowl of dessert to dad BEFORE he served himself...are these really my children??), we had to pick out Logan's clothes for school pictures tomorrow (he really wanted to wear his tie...he's going to be so cute!) and then we hung out in Logan's room and read books.  The boys went and got the big cushy pillows from the playroom and we put them on Logan's big bed and we all contentedly read books and talked about tractors and dinosaurs!  It was so much fun!  In one of the books I was reading them, it said something about the "United States" and Logan pipes in and says, "of America, mom!"  Is was so cute!  Then before I knew it, Carson puts his hand over his heart and starts reciting the Pledge of Allegiance!  It was all very priceless and it was by far one of the best evenings I have had with the boys in a long time!  Loved it!

So, if you need to change some of your child's behaviors, I recommend poker chips and chocolate...it works for me!