***FED UP!!!!*** I'm About to Lose It....

[cillybean83]

Don't worry I wouldn't take your comments as being rude, I put it out there for advice and you're right, that could be part of the problem, granted we only have meals like that once a week or every two weeks, but still it isn't necessary to have them at all. Honestly though I think his weight problem has a lot to do with his inactivity. He doesn't eat a lot so if he got an average amount of exercise he would thin out relatively fast. Hes involved in karate, cub scouts, and a homeschool group where he has weekly park days, field trips, etc and when he turns 8 in March he can sign up for football which he's excited about...so maybe that will help burn some calories.

He's been an angel all weekend, instead of talking to him and explaining everything to him, my husband and I used visuals. We physically took a lot of his toys and put them in the attic, and he can earn them back by doing chores or being good in general. We made a chore chart and put it on the fridge and stapled a baggie of stickers to it so he can put a sticker next to the chore he does. We also told him that we won't be babying him about his chore chart, he can read, he knows where the fridge is, he can go read his chart, do what it says, and put his sticker on it. We're also going to start giving him an allowance (kind of) we already have a rule of toys are for birthdays and christmas, and other little holidays like he gets a little toy for valentine's day, an Easter basket, etc...so his allowance will go in his savings account for trips. Since he is homeschooled we do a lot of mini trips to show him what he's learning, like on MLK Jr Day we took him to Memphis to the Lorraine Motel and the Civil Rights Museum, stuff like that.

Hopefully with all these new incentives his attitude will only get better

[Kaddidle Care]

After reading your last post I cheered. NOW you've got it!

My oldest is ADHD and gifted and by 4th grade he had lost just about EVERYTHING he loved through punishment. I had nothing else to take away. So then I went the other route - issued him tickets for TV/Video game time when he did something right or read for a half hour. The tickets were good for 15 minutes each and he learned to "budget" his time if there was something special he wanted to watch, etc.

Hang in there on the Scouting too - I'm happy to say that my oldest is now an Eagle Scout and is in College studying to be an Engineer. By High school things tend to level out but until then, it's never a dull moment! Hold onto your hair!

[SandeeAR]

You mentioned giving him an allowance. My husband thought I was nuts when I first started this plan with my girls. When they were in about 3rd grade, I gave them $20 week for their chores.....now don't panic, stay with me.... LOL.

1st 10% went to church
2nd 10% went to "taxes"..... a family jar used for movies etc. (Dad and I
contributed to this too)
3rd 10% went to savings for something larger/ long term purchase

The rest was theirs......however, when the school tee shirt, annual, field trip came up, they were expected to pay half and Dad and I paid half.

(This was money we were spending anyway, but they learned the value of the Dollar better)

When we were in Walmart/Target etc., and they said "I want"....I always asked, "do you have the money?" If they did I would get it if they really wanted to spend the money. When we got home, they had to go get me the money before they got the toy.

Many times, when they realized they were spending "their" money, they decided the toy wasn't near as important. I never had that child throwing a fit in the store for a toy.

We did buy things for them on occasion, just b/c, but they didn't expect it.

[cillybean83]

Dylan now has a chore chart that has a maximum value of $13.50 per week. Each square is worth $0.25 and he'll get paid for the squares that have stickers. If he cheats and puts a sticker where he doesn't deserve one, he will lose everything he's earned for the week. I'll report back next week and let you know if it's working!