Robert's new "job"

I've been so lax in making posts and in taking pictures...I don't think I've taken one picture all week! Makes me feel like just an awful mom!

Things have been crazy...Trying to get Robert ready for his 3 day field trip...and dealing with his attitudes! Last month we had discussed with him how he's always expecting a money handout...and not small amounts but $35 and $50 at a time?! We told him in preparation of the outside world, he should keep a time sheet of what he does since he seems to think he does "so much" work around the house. So when the first rolled around he started complaining about how we never paid him for the month of September. We asked for his timesheet and he says he "forgot" to keep a timesheet; to which we replied well you didn't "forget" you wanted to be paid for doing things...sad part is both he and Kelly have slacked so bad...and are doing less and less around the house to help the closer I get to surgery!

So we went round and round about it...first I reminded him that we pay $6 a week for him to go to his Sunday tournaments. Next is the $40 I spent to replace the cell phone he lost...plus the $15 fee to transfer the service from the lost phone to the new phone. Then I reminded him that his dad is only paying $15 of the $40 a month for his cell service. And the $16 we've given him as "spending" money when he goes on his weekly field trips to various hotels with his VoTech class. Oh and the $60 we had to pay to reserve his hotel room for his trip. Well he doesn't think any of that should count because we didn't give it to "him" directly?! He says "well you GAVE Kelly $85!!" Umm, no we didn't...we gave the insurance company $85 as a deductible to replace Kelly's $250 cell phone! (We had insurance on her phone)...the mp3 player in it had stopped working, a couple of the keys stopped working and we had to make the claim before they decided it was "Too old" to replace!

What this was all about was a video game he wanted for his DS for the trip to Glenwood. So I took the liberty of typing him up a timesheet--The headings are:

Name of chore/date/time start/time end/total time/acceptable?/time credit/parent initial/attitude rating

So we went and got his game for him...with the understanding that he now owes us $37 worth of work...at $5 an hour (training wage!).

So Saturday morning he shocked me...while Andrew was gone doing some 'personal time' to destress I got Robert working on moving stuff in the storage area of the basement so that we could insulate it with foam sheets...he even helped to place the sheets and move the shelving back. Then we tested the sump pump to make sure it was working becuase we hadn't heard it go off all summer long. He amazingly enough kept a great attitude and I was very pleased!! He worked a total of 2 hours so he's well on his way...However when he got home from his tournament yesterday we asked if he had anything on his timesheet for today and he said no. The chore board still had a few simple things on it (like vacuuming the living room and hallway), sweeping the kitchen floor and doing dinner dishes. He decided he just didn't want to earn any time towards his debt. He was informed that IF this debt of $37 is not paid off by the end of the month, there will be no more "advances".

I think it's a fair trade...Of course, he's gonna be gone a total of 6 days this month...3 days with his dad and 3 days with his field trip...but he still has 25 days to work it out! That's plenty of time to work another 5 1/2 hours off his debt!

Now, we're gonna have to do the same thing for Kelly...seems she thinks all we are good for is passing out money and taking her driving...she's not been doing any chores AT ALL since her birthday on the 20th of last month. When I approached her about it last night she pops off about how "about the time I played with the kids today?" well, that can't be counted as babysitting since I was right there watching the kids...and that I thought she was just "playing" with them...not intending to be "watching" them so I could accomplish other things"....

*sigh* and it's just the beginning!!