My girls love to sing. All. the. time. Unfortunately, when mom has had a long day of cooking, cleaning, nursing the sick baby, fishing toys out of the toilet, violining, negotiating homework, etc., the last thing I want or need is for a grand battle of "Smith Family Idol" (also known as let's have a battle to see who can sing the loudest and most shrill, all the while ignoring anything and everything else that may be going on around you) to break out when all I really want is to be curled up under my quilt with a bowl of ice cream and the remote control.
Last night, the song of choice at our house was "Don't you wish your girlfriend was hot like me?" Don't ask. I was trying to be the patient mom, really I was. But after approximately 137 rounds,
screamed sung back to back accompanied by the girls constantly interrupting each other, bickering, and trying to one-up each other, I snapped.
"All right! That's enough! The next person who sings that song owes me a dollar!"
They looked at me, wide-eyed, mouths open in surprise.
But I made two dollars in the next five minutes.
One of them was from my husband.
I'm still laughing about it.
I wonder what other rules I can enforce with money penalties? Hmmmm....
I'm gonna be rich!
Oooo, I need to start that in my family. I would get rich off of charging for people quoting movies
ReplyDeleteOh great, now that song is stuck in my head!
ReplyDeleteLOL! My kids owe me a dollar if they don't hang up their coats. I yelled and screamed about it for a couple of weeks in a row... Coats were stuffed anywhere and everywhere, and then when they needed them, they couldn't find them. It amazes me how much effort kids will go to in order to put things where they DON'T belong. So finally, I got tired of yelling about it and enforced the $1 rule. I think I've made about $7 so far, mostly from Kaleb. :)
ReplyDeleteI love that idea, and I can think of a lot of things I could use it for... couch cushions being taken off the couch, bouncing basketballs in the house... Money talks around here, so this might actually work!
ReplyDeleteHaha! Yes! Go buy something nice with the $2! Like a nice big, fat, chocolate bar. =)
ReplyDeleteYou're a genius!
ReplyDelete$2 in 5 minutes? That's some cash, sister! ;)
ReplyDeleteI have my kids pay me for not doing chores, not doing homework, and for simply not listening. It works great. Money is a fab motivator!!