Incentives

Do you know those times when you are so very, very desperate that you practically promise the moon to get what you want? We got that desperate with Shelby and her thumb sucking. We kind of stopped caring during cancer care, knowing that was a comfort for her. Had we known, we would have kept at it- it exploded from occasionally to a near-constant in the aftermath. Honestly, we were embarrassed for her, but our main concern was her teeth. With both Randy and I having horrendous, nappy teeth as kids, braces were in the cards for our kids from the get-go. However, Shelby's teeth were coming in straight, it was her habit that was pulling them forward. So we blindly offered her many, many different incentives to induce her own determination to quit, including...

a brand new bike! {That we may have forgotten we offered, but was kindly reminded by Shelby. And the other kids. And probably the neighbor girl.  And her dog.} As an added bonus- This bike was waiting for her on the day she lost the money for Caleb. She walked in to our garage (after Randy asked her to do something for him) and found a new, turquoise bike with gears (that was exactly what she wrote on her Christmas Wish List) waiting for her. I'm pretty sure it was bathed in light from a softly glowing halo. Angels may have began a heavenly chorus before her squeals of delight were heard from down the street.  It was the perfect thing to take her mind off of her troubles.

It was a well-timed reminder to our other kids that if we offer something for hard work, and they accomplish their goal (and remind us of our incentive), we will pay up. Always.

 It works the other way too:

Tyson: "Mom, I just wanted to remind you that you said Shelby had to go to bed 10 minutes early today for screaming in my ear."

Goodnight!