CinderFella

As you may know by now, Jakob is a huge Spiderman fan and has been for, like, a year I think. He'll get a scratch and tell you it's a spider bite. He'll shoot a web at you if he's upset with you, or if he's trying to defend himself in some way. He pretends to climb on walls, and jumps off of things while shooting or holding a web. He wears his Spiderman costume pretty much every day, sometimes under his clothes just like Peter Parker.

So when my mom got a Spiderman Mr. Potato Head at her house, Jakob begged to go over and play with it. We went over Monday, and when we left that night Jakob asked if he could have a Spiderman Potato Head for his birthday. I said, "Sure, but you know your birthday is 5 months away, right?" Not that he knows what that means, but I think he realized it was a long time. So we decided that instead of listening to him beg and cry for one for the next 5 months, that we would have him earn one by doing chores.

We set him to work with the following: scrub the toilet, make his bed, dust in Mom and Dad's room, pick up toys, put his folded clothes away, say 4 prayers, and help put dishes away. I know, I'm a slave driver. Some of these things he already does, like put away toys and say prayers. But the other stuff he was a first-timer. And I tell you what, he rocked! We have three toilets, and I wanted to show him how to scrub the bowl of his toilet, so I started in a different bathroom. But he wanted to scrub all three, so I totally let him. I was going to fold some laundry and have him just help me put his stuff in his drawers, but he helped me put them in the different piles to take upstairs, and even hung up one of Pete's shirts by himself. That kid was so motivated!

He finished his chores on Wednesday, so that night we went and found his Spider Spud. I have a cleaner house, and he has a new favorite toy. A win-win! I'll have to remember this chore thing! Now if only I can find something to motivate Brock with for potty training...