Well....

I stared at the accusingly blank screen of the blog for nearly an hour before starting. Many thoughts came and went, none of them stuck around long enough to be committed to the ether. I know there were some specific things I wanted to say, but... oh, well. Maybe next time.

It's been a long weekend, many negotiations. Set out a chart of jobs to be accomplished, assigned each a monetary value, with columns for checking when done and when paid. All this in an attempt to get Cefin to do his chores without having a nuclear-type explosion AND to get him to a basic understanding of the concept of gainful employment. I never liked the idea of giving him an allowance - Ioan would just empty his pockets and give him money at random and call it allowance. We'll see how this goes. Part of the deal is that he has to accomplish the job without a shouting match AND without me having to stand over him to make sure it is done right, or done repeatedly before it's done right. I had to break down laundry into two parts - the bringing down/sorting/washing and drying, and then the folding/hanging up/putting away. I set it out so that there are daily and weekly chores which he MUST accomplish before being eligible to earn extra "big bucks" - $2.50 each for such jobs as washing the windows downstairs or upstairs, washing walls, etc. I didn't even write down anything for the jobs outside, other than walking the dogs.

I hope I have the energy to follow through on this. I have a packet of 20 one-dollar bills and a stack of quarters. I'm trying to explain how much he =can= earn and get him to understand that it is HIS choice to have money or not to have money. Other incentives: hot lunches at school cost $10 per week; I am giving him the option of taking the ten dollars in to school to get the crappy food, or saving the money and making his own lunches in the mornings.

Another financial incentive is paying for good grades. My parents never did this for any of us kids, because we were good students if chronic underachievers. I never saw the value of paying kids for grades but Cefin has FINALLY gotten to the point where I am not all stressed out about his social and behavioral issues that I can actually look at his grades. This is actually a huge step forward for both of us. I told him I would give him five dollars for every A on his next report card. We did not negotiate for a B or C, but I guess we will deal with that later. I'm not sure it's really in him to be an A student, regardless of any financial reward. He's certainly smart enough but the system works against him and I haven't yet figured out the best way to kick the system's ass.

And speaking of the school system, I sent in my resume for two separate jobs at the local school system. The first is to be an instructional aide in the elementary school, the second is for a secretarial position at the high school. Fingers crossed. I need to have some income to support my Second Life habit.

That's all for now, I guess.