What are little boys made of?

What do you do to motivate your kids?

I take my kids to see spiders, snakes and reptiles. Gross, I know. Saturdays can be difficult without Cal around. Everybody's out with their family, playing, working in their yard... So I have to distract myself, and motivate myself as well. (Cleaning the house, leaving the house, having a great time with the kids, and coming back to a clean house just before bedtime... is an awesome reward!) This Sat we went to the Reptile Expo in SLC.

My sister (who teaches special education) commented to me once that it was ok to bribe/reward my kids once in awhile. They do the things you hope for them to do for the reward, but eventually they learn to do it because they want to. Anyway, this was their reward this week. Spence wasn't feeling well, but Grant got up close and personal with the slimy creatures.

"I really want to take you home, but my mom won't let me. She doesn't allow pets that if lost, could be found hiding in her bed."

"Awesome!"

(I had to look away while I took this picture. I HATE spiders! But if you train your kids right, they'll love 'em and kill them all for you. Sometimes it backfires, though, and they turn on you and decide to protect the envornment and the spiders. Then I get the spider spray. Sorry boys!)

"You look kind of squished in that small, plastic container."

"I think he ate too much."

"You're the sweetest creature I've ever seen. Someday, I'll earn enough money and come back for you. I have to earn enough to bribe my mom, so it may take a few years. Wait for me..."

Unfortunately, Spencer was not feeling so great, which was too bad, really. He LOVES reptiles right now. He wants to be the Crocodile Hunter for Halloween. Yes, he knows Steve Irwin is dead. He still loves to watch his old shows and can even do a pretty good Steve Irwin imitation. When we got home, Spence kept talking about the snakes and scorpions and frogs, so even though he wasn't feeling very well, he still managed to absorb something.

And that is how I bribed (I mean rewarded) my kids last week.