A Few New Things

We are trying new things at our house, one of which we got to use the other night...rewarding good behavior. (OK, we have already been doing this, just changed it up a bit). So, the boys were on excellent behavior, please, thank you, and NONE of that teenage attitude backtalk stuff, so we went for a bike ride. I kept telling the boys, slow down, no we aren't taking that street, and hey just kept pedaling like they were gonna save a life. I finally told them going up a very large hill, that they were going to give me a heart attack. They didn't seem to care really, they just kept going full speed ahead. Then my adorable 10 year old says, mom, this is good for you...you can lose all that flubber you have been wanting to lose! Really, Thanks for the reality check. We rode about 30 blocks in about 15 min. When B was little, I had a seat on the back of my bike and we would ride for hours like it was nothing. Now, even without the extra weight of a chunky monkey on the back, it about kills me to ride a fraction of that. I don't think I am all that fond of this growing old stuff. Maybe there will be many more "reward nights" at our house and I will gradually get back into shape, if that's even possible at this point. The other change is extra chores without pay for the whining, back talking, attitude junk, that drives all parents crazy. We haven't had to use this yet, but last night came very close as summer bedtime at our house is in bed at 9, lights out at 9:30. Weekends they can stay up til 10:00 unless we aren't home. Scott called them in from playing at 8:30. We told them both, lights out at 9:30, no excuses, so drinks, using the bathroom, showers, chores, whatever needed to be done by then. They were 4 minutes late. And when they came in the just couldn't understand why they had to come in so early! Tonight we don't have a game though, so chores will be done after work. And speaking of baseball, last night the Twins won another, 11-0, despite not playing their best.