Rocks and Rewards

When we were trying to get Ubby to stay dry all night, I purchased some clear rocks and told him that every morning that he was dry he would get a rock in a cup and when it was full he got to pick out of some toys I had bought from the dollar store.

We haven't used the rocks for a long time now. Until the other day. Ubby found them. He asked if we could do the reward system again- in other words, he wanted to work towards a reward. So I told him to think of something he needed to work on for the reward. He decided to work on his letters.

I must inject here that when I was teaching, I took a class on handwriting. From Zaner-Boser. A real, honest class that talked about the importance of writing each letter correctly. For instance, a lower case "a" is written as such: circle around, push up, pull down. Each letter has an exact way to write it. This is how I would like my children to write their letters. They don't want me to tell them how to write their letters. The same letters that their teacher at school is perfectly ok with. But when I sit down with them, I try to get them to do it the right way. They don't like that. So I leave them alone.

Enter Ubby. He wants to work on his letters. So for several days, he is happy to have me boss, I mean tell him how to write each letter. He practices and I can tell- from my teacher trained eye- when he has formed them the way I tell him. He patiently, and cheerfully fixes every letter.

And thus, he earns a reward.

So we go to the dollar store. He looks around. He can't make a decision. There are just so many good toys. So he tells me he needs to pray to see which toy he should get. And there, in the middle of the isle, at the dollar store, he kneels down, folds his hands together, closes his eyes, and says a silent prayer.

And, I realize that even though this is a simple thing to me, it is a big thing for him. And he has come to rely on a wonderful Heavenly Father who loves him and will help him with any question or problem he is having. So I don't get embarassed. I enjoy. And I am thankful for a son who loves the gospel, loves scripture stories, and has the faith "of a little child." And, once more, I am thankful to be a mom.