Rewards for Good Grades?

So the end-of-the-year grades came out recently. How did your kids do? Here is the big question: do you reward your kids for good grades and/or do they get a consequence for "poor" grades?

One of our children gets good grades all the time and is completely self motivated. (Although, I have to point out, parents can't really determine how well their children are doing on their academics in elementary school with the generic marks of "Basic," "Proficient," or "Advanced" - and they only give out "Advanced" at the end of the year.)

Our other child wasn't trying very hard on his school work and so in turn was not earning very high grades (they do receive the traditional grading letters in middle school) - although we knew he had the capabilities of getting great grades. He just wasn't motivated to do his best. We saw what was happening, he didn't care, so we attached a carrot at the end of the string.

When my husband was in grade school he wasn't motivated to get good grades either. A grown up in his life told him at the beginning of the year that he would give him a dollar for every "A" that he received on his report card. Back in the day when one was graded on every little thing, and the list of possibilities inspired the young boy. That was the year he worked very hard and this grown-up person was so surprised at the string of As my husband as a young boy received on his report card. The grown up had to fork over $85.00 and my husband took the money, jumped on his bike, rode across town (when kids could ride across town by themselves), and bought himself a motorized helicopter. He will never forget that day and that helicopter was a prize well earned. The next year that grown up wasn't in his life anymore and no one offered up a reward for good grades and the young boy's grades fell and he just wasn't motivated anymore.

But then you hear of all those over achievers who tell the story of how their parents would look at the end of the year report card and ask why so and so got a "B" on their report card. Then the over-achiever child would feel so bad about themselves for not getting straight "A"s and that it affected their entire life and they never felt good enough. I heard that story plenty of times.

My son said that some of the kids in middle school got a penalty if they got a grade point average below a 3.8. They would be grounded for the entire summer.

So, what do you do? Do you reward or give consequences for "good" and "bad" grades. If you do or don't, why not?  How about if you have one self motivated child and the other non-motivated child? Do you give them both the same reward? I am interested to hear your viewpoint.

Why I Went to the Midnight Show of Harry Potter

My husband started reading the Harry Potter series to my son when he was in second grade. He even added his own animated version with different voices for each of the characters. I started filling in for him at Book 3. Each of us quickly were captivated by the story, the characters, and the eloquent writing.

How We Came to be Fond of Harry Potter

My son was eight years old at the Book 7 release in July 2007. The local library put on a fabulous Harry Potter event complete with Harry Potter trivia games and the appearance of the Night Bus. That day people came out in droves, dressing up as Rita Skeeter, Hagrid, Dobby, and many other minor and some major characters. Two different tv stations interviewed my son and he was on that night's news. At midnight that night, my husband and my son also went our local book store for the book's release.

Read to Your Child

It took a year and half for my husband to read all seven books to my son and now that four years have passed my son has read the series seven times and last summer he read all seven books in one week's time. Our entire family have also watched all the movies and read all the books (except my youngest who is currently reading book 2).

Midnight Release

So when we found out that the final movie was to be released on Friday, July 15, 2011, a summer day with no school the next day, we knew we had to be part of history and see the movie at it's midnight release.

The Critics

Now I saw a lot of status updates on Facebook Thursday expressing how baffled they were that people would be sacrificing their precious sleep time to be standing in line for hours just to be there for the midnight release when they could have been home sleeping and wait to watch the movie at a decent time. They wondered, "what's the point?"

Why I Wouldn't Have Gone

Now if I didn't have (1) kids, (2) a kid that was completely infatuated with the Harry Potter series (3) read all the books myself or (3) the ability to survive a day without eight hours of sleep I too would not have shown up for the midnight showing either.

Making Memories

Why not be a part of making memories for our kids? Why not be a part of history in the making? Why not sacrifice sleep to do something that will be down on your kid's top ten things they have done before they were 20. Why not?

I'm all about making memories for our kids - that's why we take them to places like Yosemite or Disneyland. Here it is in our own backyard (so to speak) and a perfect time in our kids' lives, why not be a part of making memories? My husband was little when he was able to be in line for the opening of Star Wars Empire Strikes Back. He tells our kids that he was there and they just can't believe he was able to be a part of a day of history. Plus, while we stood there in line, granted we were not standing in 100 degree sun, my son noticed that everyone was happy and having such a great time waiting for the movie. The fans united.

Another Midnight Showing?

There will be more book and movie releases coming out in our future, but there may not be another moment, another book, and another movie quite like this one for our family. We may never go to a midnight release of a movie or book again. Why not seize the moment and be a part of something big; making memories with your children.

But yet again, my son and husband are in the process of reading "The Lord of The Rings" series so maybe we will be awake for "The Hobbit's" release next year! Maybe. Until then....

How Do You Save Money?

Okay, so we have been told that we Americans have pulled out of a recession, but yet the jobless rate is still high and architectural billings are still low. Frankly, my husband and I are just thankful to have a job these days. Many people have lost a job and have had to be creative with bringing in a family income.
As you work with less income or only have one family member bring in the dough, what sacrifices have you had to make? How do you save money? How do you make ends meet? Have you had to change your spending habits? Do you shop differently or now cut out coupons?

The year 2009 was difficult financially for many. My husband and I both had to take a cut in pay, but we were able to make ends meet because we had a roommate for extra income and we went down to a one-car family. The year 2010 seemed to bring some promise for the next year and we went back to full salary, bought a second car, and our roommate moved out. Then 2011 hit. Both my husband and I had to take another cut in pay, but we also had a new car payment and no assistance in our mortgage payments now without a roommate. Needless to say, money got tight quick.

We have tried to be creative on how to make additionally money and we both considered picking up side jobs. My husband considered going back as a waiter and we both submitted applications for an early morning paper route. Neither of those options panned out. I responded to a photographer's request for assistance on photo editing as well as to some other part-time jobs opportunities I saw on Craigslist. Nothing fared out. If it did turn out that either one of us did pick up second job, life would have been hectic and a an additional challenge with keeping the house clean, the lawn manicured, a busy family's schedule, up with kids, and sane. So, without selling our house and moving out of town, we had to buckle down and change our way of spending.

One way we started saving money is by switching from me to my husband doing the grocery shopping. I used to shop Henry's and Trader Joes, but bulk is less expensive so my husband does all the grocery shopping by visiting Costco weekly. Okay, so I'm kind of getting tired of the same-o-same-o, but it is what it is.

I buy clothes from second hand stores, look for off season deals for 50-75% off back-to-school clothes, wait in the lines at WalMart, visit the small boutiques that often offer items at such a huge discount, and try to be creative with the items I already have. I don't get a manicure, or a pedicure, or color my hair (but I don't have grey hair either so it isn't a must). We don't have anyone coming to clean our house, or mow our lawn, or walk our dog (not that we ever had that, I'm just say'n). We also slowed down on house improvement projects. In addition to all that, we never eat out unless we have a coupon or for a summer treat at Mr. Frosties (a local ice cream place). We do, although, rent quite a few movies for $1 at Red Box.

The most recent discovery in our lives are all those sites out there that offer great deals such as Groupon, Living Social, Daily Deals, Hookup, and BuyWithMe. I love these sites and I have signed up with every one of them. I know, it clutters up my inbox, but for a savings it is worth it. One thing is one has to be careful to take a deal that benefits ones family not a deal that creates extra spending.

So what do you and your family do to save money or make ends meet during this time of economic hardship?