A LITTLE INCENTIVE GOES A LONG WAY

You should see my kids right now.  They are working together and having FUN!  I grew up in a house that recycled aluminum cans.  Not just put them in the recycle bin and put them out for the recycle truck to pick up.  Oh no...we had to crush the cans and save them up to take to the recycler and "cash them in."  I'll admit...it's a pain in the bum (as Faith calls her bottom).  So...we're supposed to be doing the same thing here.  However, I'm the one who usually ends up doing all or most of the work.  The cans start to pile up in kitchen trash bags out in the garage...NEXT to the bin they are to go into when they are crushed.  I will not tell you how many bags of aluminum cans are out in the garage right now.  So...I devised a plan.  I've been giving my kids a "chore" after Parker gets home from school and they get 50 cents for doing it.  Nothing too major...Parker has had to vacuum the living room, Windex the TV screens, dust, etc.  Faith has had to wash the windows by the front door as high as she can reach, use the little kitchen vac and vacuum the kitchen floors, dust, etc.  Saturdays they get $1.00 each if they do the chores I assign.  Sundays are God's day and we do not allow ourselves or our kids to work. However, this can crushing thing was starting to really nag at me.  Every time I drive into the garage I am welcomed by piles of white trash bags full of cans...sitting next to their empty designated bins.  That is changing today.  I will admit that when it comes to my children, I am not above bribing them to get them to do something.  So, I told them that I had a larger chore for them today and if they did it they would get a significant "reward."  Parker was like, "WHAT?  WHAT?  What's the reward?"  He didn't care about the chore he just wanted the reward.  I said, "You and Faith need to go into the garage and you will crush cans while Faith picks them up and throws them in the bin.  If you complete this task you will get $5 each."

They are out in that garage working together, listening to music and crushing those cans!  They have come up with new "techniques" for crushing, such as using their scooters or bikes to pick up the cans and throw them in the bin.  They have plastic baseball bats out and after a can is crushed, they bat it into the bin from across the garage.  Or...one crushes and one picks up.  I have the door from the garage to the house open and it's fun to listen to them while I get dinner ready.  They probably don't even have half the can crushed yet and they've been at it for at least an hour.  Just think how tired they'll be by the end of the night from all the stomping of cans, riding of bikes and scooters and batting of cans.  They'll probably fall asleep during dinner.

I think it's all worth the ten bucks it will cost us.  After all, I'll probably keep the money from all the cans!