Reward Day

I'm still trying to figure out this whole "spirited child" thing. Whether you have a spirited kid or not I firmly believe in positive reinforcement. That's where the whole pinterest idea comes into play. I started the coin system with Maddy on Monday night. The problem I had is I knew if she had to wait until the whole bag filled up she would lose interest. I remembered the system we had in place with the student I used to work with. His mom brought in a lot of prizes to put in a chest and we called it his treasure chest. If he earned a sticker everyday during the week he could get a prize. I have decided for now that is what Maddy needs. It's attainable and she loves earning her coins. Instead of waiting for the bag to fill up or for part of the bag to fill up I decided if she got at least one coin a day she could earn a prize. I'm not made of money and I can't afford to go buy up a bunch of toys at once to stick in a chest. I'm going to look in consignment sales and my mom is going to help out some. Then at the end of the month if she has at least 31 coins I will take her to the toy store and let her pick out something there...within budget of coarse lol.

She did so well this week! I was amazed at how different she was being. I still have a lot to learn but what I've learned so far has been working. She even stayed home one day this past week and she was borderline going into melt down mode, but I was able to pull her out of it before she began. I told her if she earned her coin on Friday that she could go to the toy store to get her surprise. She did earn her coin, so when I picked her up we headed straight to Toys R Us. I gave her some choices in the car and at first she said play dough then she changed her mind and wanted a Donald movie. I really didn't want her to choose a movie so once we got in the store I tried pointing out things and she decided she wanted a new game for her "computer" (leap pad 2). She looked at all the games and then chose a Dora one.

I really wanted her to choose play dough because it's a good calming activity for when she starts to boil up, but it was her decision and this is what she chose. She needed a new game for her computer. It was starting to get boring lol. This game is a bit difficult for her and I figured it would because it's for ages 4-7. She picked up on it pretty fast, but still needed help navigating a little bit.

The book that I'm reading helps parents have a different mind set and really helps them understand what is going on. I did a pretty good job this week myself and decided I should reward myself too lol. I'm an avid movie lover. Have been for a long time. I fell in love with Lady and the Tramp (so did Maddy) that I wanted to start building up my Disney collection. I researched what Disney movies are best for Toddlers because I know most of them have scary scenes. The next movie I was going to buy was Cars. I love that movie. Toys R Us has really dwindled down their movie selection and Blu-Ray was even worse. I really like getting the Blu-Ray/DVD combo. I had to rethink what movie I would get. I have yet to see Horton Hears a Who and they had that on DVD. I had it in my hand until I found the Disney collection. I had such a hard time deciding...there was Mary Poppins, Toy Story, Cars, Fox and the Hound, and others. I had Maddy help me decide. She chose Fox and the Hound. I started to get a second movie, but decided I really wanted to wait to get the Blu-Ray combo. The Fox and the Hound was a good decision because it included the first movie and the second movie for the same price as one movie cost. Sure, I'd rather have it on Blu-Ray combo but it's such a sad movie to me that I'm okay only having a DVD copy lol. I love Todd and Copper and the message behind it is great. I just don't like that Todd's mother gets killed :( Then there's the scene where Tweed decides to release Todd into the forest and he's all alone once again. I seriously feel so sad.

I told my mom which movie I got and that I would be crying all night cause it makes me so sad. She told me to watch a video I had shown her that is HILARIOUS!

I'm sure most of you have seen this by now, but I think it's just hilarious. I had to watch it in the middle of the movie and it instantly made me forget about the movie. I know...why get the movie if it makes me sad? I love the movie and I want Maddy to enjoy it. She had already seen it at church. There is a scary part in it, but Lady and the Tramp has a scary part too and she does ok. I just know I can't get The Little Mermaid for a while because Ursula might look like a monster to Maddy. I cannot WAIT to get more Disney movies...they are classic!