This time of year seems to be more difficult for our son, as he seems to battle countless bouts of uncontrollable tics, due to Tourette Syndrome. When his tics are active, other issues make their appearance as well. His behavior was at its worst a couple of weeks before Christmas. I was never more happy to take a week off of school. (Actually, with the weekends included, it turned into more like12 days off without doing any schoolwork).
We decided to start back up on Tuesday, January 3rd, and I can’t tell you how nervous I was about it. I did not look forward to starting back up, and was nervous to the point of having an upset stomach. It didn’t help when I announced on Monday morning that we would be starting back to school the next day, and Coyote showed me a scowl that made me realize I was in for a battle.
I prayed hard for wisdom that day, and asked for prayer from a group of praying moms. Later that afternoon, almost miraculously (or at least with perfect timing from the Lord), I read a blog from another homeschool mom in our area. She had started back to school that day, and shared an idea she used to help motivate her boys. You can read about it
HERE.
I decided to use her idea, modifying it a bit for our own family. I found two empty pizza sauce jars I had saved, and remembered I had a roll of nickels in my coin jar. For each subject the kids accomplished without giving me trouble, they received a nickel for their jar. Coyote could use his nickels for time on the Wii or for computer games. (Each nickel was worth 5 minutes of time). Road Runner does not play video games, so she could turn in 3 nickels for one sticker.
On Tuesday morning, I had the kids decorate their jars with stickers and told them what the jars were for. Coyote was very upset at first, and I really didn’t think this idea was going to work after all. But, I know now that he just had to get used to the idea. I did not back down on the new rules, and he eventually realized it wouldn’t take too long to earn 30 minutes on the Wii (or even 60) if he did what he was asked. He even did some extra reading just to earn extra nickels! God is so good. He provided a great idea for me at a time when I needed it the most.
The rest of the week's school time had a few wavering moments in it, but quickly got back into balance. It also helped that we didn’t do a full workload this first week back. Next week, we are getting back into it full swing, and I’m praying the nickel system will continue to help. If not, I know the Lord will give me the wisdom and the strength I need to get through it.
