Take Me Out

Last night I went out on a date with a handsome, blonde haired young man. We had dinner and a movie, and went to the Washington Pavillion in between. I had so much fun with him and who says science isn't cool?
Right now we are teetering between being 7 and being 8. Being 8 is a little more down the path of being grown up and responsible.
This past few weeks have been difficult in our house, getting used to a new routine and not being in school. A lot of things have fallen by the wayside in the transition. Things are not getting done, and there's a lot of I don't want to's about almost everything. To pour salt on the wounds, by 9 pm I am just beat and knowing that I still have about another hour ahead of me to cajole and convince someone to bed and I am CRANKY mommy. Not good.
On top of it, the little man is starting to develop a case of the gimmes. He expects a new toy every time we go to the store. He expects to be able to spend hours on the computer or playing video games. I am not down with that-I definately do not want my son to grow up feeling entitled and spoiled. On top of it all, he is NOT interested in picking up after himself and there is a tornado whereever he goes lately.
This situation can go one of two ways. One, we can just get used to these behaviors and give in. Or two, nip it in the bud. I am all for option 2.
Over the years, I've had ideas about things that I want to try around the house, and I really need the big man to buy into all this. If he isn't going to be enthusiastic about it, its not going to work. And I can't do all of the housework, etc. by myself-not with working full time and my position at the church, and everything else that I do-and I think one of the reasons why I am so tired and cranky all the time is because I am feeling resentful and actually angry that there are burdens that fall to me. The big man works his butt off and doesn't get near enough sleep. He does all this stuff outside (like mowing the lawn and the landscaping stuff) so I really shouldn't expect him to do stuff inside too. And the little man is a kid, so I can't expect him to do too much...
But I know in my heart that things can be so much better for all of us. It just takes a little discipline and a lot of reminders and patience. For me, it helps to know that I have a framework to do things, and that it can get expanded from there. So, I came up with a system for our family that I think is going to work. We are going to use the token system for rewards once things get done around the house. The little man can use the tokens to "buy" time on the computer or new toys. My thought is 1. he is learning the value of money and what it takes to earn something. 2. he is learning what it takes to be a member of a household 3. he is taking responsibility for his own actions 4. we're using math to solve problems. So, there is a list of what we need to do to earn tokens (sit at the table, read for 30 minutes, put our own laundry away, etc)every day and the list of things we can "buy" with the tokens. I can't take credit for this idea, I actually found it thanks to one of my fellow mommy bloggers. But I think it rocks!