Workin' Hard for the Money

I am in the midst of a personal finance class - one of the most recent topics being kids and money.  It, combined with a recent request for a Jonas dog,  inspired me to implement a new cash for chores program for Morgan.  May I introduce: 

and 

Morgan now has a list of 5 tasks she can complete each week. 

Two of them are once a week gigs and bigger tasks hence the higher value. The others are every day items... The reasoning behind the paper money is two-fold. One, I have something to give her on the spot (a suggestion in the class for small people - so they can see the immediate reward). Two,  I am rarely if ever in possession of actual cash - although I am sure I will be better about that from now on. And, the conversion of quarters into dollars could be a pain later - so this will just add up to dollars at the end of the week, month, etc... 

Her new cash for chores system allows her to use the money both to save and to buy things she wants. I think it will be interesting to see if she still wants the $25 dog after she has to work for a few weeks and wait to earn the money. 

Overall I am hoping that she will learn a few things from this process - 

* helping around the house and a sense of personal responsibility

* that it takes money to buy things and real work to earn the money

* patience.... she is actually fairly patient, but I think this could further that virtue

So far she is very excited to do chores and asks for extra chores above and beyond those listed on the chart. She was quite helpful in her room cleaning yesterday and with her bed sheet laundering. The only thing I wonder is - when does a quarter stop being "a lot of  money" to a little person... :-) 

The first day of the rest of her life....

No, not Morgan's (this is a slight detour from Morgan)... This is about Grandma... 

Grandma, as of Sept. 30th at 5 p.m. is officially a retired woman - YAY x 1,000,000.... 

I know she is beyond happy and we are equally as happy for her.  After 35 + years a rest is well-deserved. 

CONGRATULATIONS Mom / Grandma / Lady with a whole lot more free time now... :-)  

BINGO with a Chance of Meatballs...

The new library program for Fall is based on the BINGO game. Each child signs up and gets a BINGO card with different activities to complete (based on age range). After you get a BINGO you can show the card and get a new book, but you can also keep playing and for every BINGO you get  you are entered to win a bigger prize. 

Sunday allowed us to have some serious progress on the BINGO board. We were able to cross off: 

* Go to a different library location than you normally visit 

* Attend a library program 

The location we picked was offering a dinosaur based theme - they read a couple of books, showed pictures of some fossils and then let the kids make their own fossils.  

* Read a Caldecott Award Book 

* Read Goodnight Moon

and then... 

*Watch a movie based on a book 

Perfect timing because Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs just came out...I of course had to make spaghetti and meatballs for dinner afterward.... 

Before the movie there was a preview reminder of Where the Wild Things Are coming out in October and I am super excited about this movie.  a) because it looks to be done well and b) I just can't help but like a movie right out of the gate that plays one of my ALL TIME favorite songs.. Wake Up by Arcade Fire - love love love this song.

Gallery Post - Working 9 to 3

Miley and Me...

After months of waiting the Miley Cyrus concert finally arrived. It was a long day and a long drive but worth every minute.

Highlights of the trip:

Getting out of school early (nothing makes a kid feel more special) 

Putting together a fabulous concert outfit...

Seeing  the inside of her first concert arena...

Glorious kid-friendly concert food in the comfort of the club level...

Sporting a brand new (I will be the only one at school with one) concert T-shirt...

Checking out the great view of the stage... 

And of course the biggest moment - MILEY CYRUS LIVE AND IN PERSON!!!

Facing MY Fears....

Ok - so as a parent I'm pretty sure you're supposed to be the one that always sets your children's fears at ease... However, the zoo trip caused this scenario to be reversed - yep I admit it fully - it's very sad and I'm a big old chicken - like a massive one!!!! 

When we arrived at the zoo Morgan saw the Sky Ride and was instantly impressed and sure that we should go on it later.  Because it's toward the front of the park we pretty much stayed clear of the thing until we circled back around later in the afternoon. I will say when I first saw the sky ride it did not instantly send me into I want to vomit mode - but when I stood in front of it later - faced with all of it's high from the groundness and not as protective as they should be seats hanging from a wire - A WIRE.... well, hello vomit mode. :-)   

I tried so hard to hype myself up - it'll be fine.... look at all the happy calm people.. etc.. etc... even bought the tickets (but was more than willing to let $5 leave my wallet and have nothing to show for it), however insert parent mode and a 5-year-old little girl who wanted to go on the sky ride more than anything. She even offered to hold my hand  - because yes, I had copped to my not loving the sky ride - but told her how very brave she was and it was great that she liked these types of rides. 

Standing on the paddock to load into the seats I wanted nothing more than to bolt toward the exit BUT I got on the sky ride. AND... it sucked, it sucked so bad. I have to laugh about my ridiculous self a little - but seriously people the SKY RIDE SUCKS!!!!  I kept calculating the distance to the ground thinking - ok if we fall we won't die - we'll just have some broken bones (sick I know) - and cursing the very very very slow pace of the sky ride (it took like 10 minutes to get through the thing).  

I did make it through - I had no choice... Morgan did hold my hand for part of the ride... and she had a great time. She thought it was the best thing ever and was not scared one bit (thank goodness fears are not hereditary). I asked her later if I was brave for going on the ride but was told no - because I was scared. OK well fine then.. but I still give myself a couple of brave points for getting on the thing. :-) 

Biggest lessons learned:

A) I do in fact have a fear of heights. 

B) I do in fact hate relinquishing control when personal safety is involved.

C) I should probably investigate anti-anxiety drugs for future outings.. ha ha

D) I will put my fears aside for my little girl and do most anything for her*.

 *although, uncle John has been pre-recruited for the big roller coaster stuff :-).

Saturday at the Zoo...

Saturday after the concert we went to visit the Oakland Zoo...  I had heard it was smaller (and it is) but somehow we managed to spend a good 6 hours there...  

We spent some time with snakes and "pet" a boa constrictor (she said the boa felt dry and soft).

Hopped on Lily pads and explored the ears of rabbits (also had an outfit change once the heat increased)... 

Saw many different animals, birds, zebras, elephants, giraffes, and even bats... 

Took a couple of rides in the sky and went for a spin... 

And... pretty much closed the place down with 15 minutes of open gate time left as we exited the zoo!