As I drove around Portland today (well, Portland, South Portland, Scarborough, and Cape Elizabeth!!), I got to thinking about bribery and my children. Why would that come to mind, you may ask?
I bribed my children with McDonald's today. Well, kind of with McDonald's - with milkshakes. I don't know about you, but I love McDonald's. Seriously. There is honestly no other fast food that I love as much as I do good ol' McDonalds. There's something about the burgers, the fries dipped in sweet and sour sauce (don't laugh until you try it!), milkshakes, and the crack-infused Diet Coke that just gets to me. When I was pregnant with Baby #3, I got the bigger boys and myself into a dangerous habit. Once a week, after picking Baby #1 up from school, we'd get McDonald's for lunch. Now that Baby #3 is a whole year old, I've been really trying to cut back and make McDonald's a "special" treat.
Somehow McDonald's became the bribery reward for good behaviour. After a busy morning of doctor's appointments, shopping, and errand-running, I found myself pulling into our bank to make a deposit. As I pulled in, I heard myself say, "You guys have been such good listeners today - if you keep it up for one more errand, you can have a milkshake!!." McDonald's was conveniently across the street from the bank.
Once it was out of my mouth and the little angels in the backseat were sufficiently excited, I found myself wishing I could take it back. At what point did I make McDonald's (and therefore, fast food and junk food) a reward? Isn't that how I got myself into my own mess to begin with? Didn't I reward myself with food, day after day, and in the process gain all that weight? I'd tell myself that I deserved the chocolate after the kids went to bed because I made it through a hard day....I deserved the ice cream during naptime because I had worked so hard that morning....I deserved the full meal for a "snack" at night because I'd worked out on the treadmill.
I decided that it might be time to rethink my bribery tools. With three boys, ages 5, 3 and 1, there's no way that I am going to give up the bribery leverage completely - but I think that a trip to the Hot Wheels aisle at the toy store will be next on my to-do list (After all - it'll end up saving me money in the long run. A child-sized milkshake is $1.30 - a car is only $0.97!!!)
That is SO me. I wish they had .97 cent Polly Pockets!
ReplyDeleteThis is so true. I always feel bad when I bribe Mia with a cartoon but I realize I'd rather her sit and rest for 20 minutes than eat 200 calories. If you need a list of "no costs" rewards/reinforcers, let me know. Some of them can be pretty major ones "pick the cartoon for the day" "choose what everyone drinks at a meal" etc.
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