Thursday, March 22, 2012

Staying sane in the rain



We are working on not losing our marbles over here at Betsy's. In fact they are part of our new sneaky parenting strategy. The gift that keeps on giving is a fish obsession that we plan to milk for all it's worth. Roboboy LOVES his new tropical fish but there is plenty of room in that tank for more fish and aquarium accessories. And that means we have some high quality leverage.
So every time we catch him being kind to his sister, spontaneously helping with chores, perhaps eating the least favoured parts of his dinner, he gets a marble. Those marbles have an exchange rate too,  5 marbles equals one actual dollar to spend at the Aquarium shop.

In the last week he has set the table numerous times, emptied the dishwasher every day, played nicely with his sister and accumulated $4.60. He is also practicing his maths every time he counts his stash and converts to fish dollars. We use other strategies for dealing with poor behaviour, there are no threats to take marbles away. We also don't given marbles for routine chores he is expected to help with, but he has  now started asking for extra jobs. We are pleased with how well this is working and look forward to seeing what he purchases with his fish dollars.

We ignored the weather on the weekend and set off on an adventure to Ipswich. It was the final day of a fantastic lego exhibition at the Ipswich Art Gallery and we did not want to miss out.


There was an unlimited selection of wheels, plates and axles to create a vehicular masterpiece. Liongirl and I finished our prototype first. Time to test it out on a stunt ramp.


This one had flashing countdown lights triggered by the red button and a starting block that you could lower when all vehicles were in position.


But this one was very steep and had a cutaway section for stunt driving and essential jumps.

Unfortunately, the girls prototype vehicle whipped up by me in about 5 minutes, was no match for the Legoman 2 wheel masterpiece.  I did feel better when I noted than none of the other kids or dads could beat it either (he is not called Legoman for nothing).

We did manage to drag ourselves away from this awesome place to check out the other exhibition but were struggling to keep our hands to ourselves in this room of painstakingly created vehicles.



On the way home we stopped at a gorgeous little native animal zoo in Queens Park. For a gold coin donation you can travel around a boardwalk while spotting wombats, quolls, wallabies, emus, bilbies, dingos and native birds.




The Queens Park playground is pretty spectacular as well. All in all a great way to spend a dreary day. Back soon with some wonderful pyrex finds and a little makeover project.


12 comments:

  1. I love the marble idea, I might even steal it. I even have the same jar to use. Hee hee. Master M needs a little incentive to behave now and again to behave and he is going through a whinging stage... My kids have a larger age gap than yours. Master M was 3years and four months with Little Miss was born. Love the kid pics!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Love the marble idea too! Now to decide on our 'fish concept'!

    ReplyDelete
  3. I also like your marble idea. I think I may have to steal it as well.

    That photo of the two in front of those bikes made me laugh!

    Has Legoman got some serious guns?

    ReplyDelete
  4. Yes. Marbles. Brilliant! I will have to steal the idea too. And the Lego exhibition.... Wow! Love the fact that Lion girl looks totally into it as well.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Haha, no Legoman does not have any serious guns as he has not exercised since at least 1998. Anything you see is a remnant of being a competitive swimmer as a kid.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Great idea with the marbles and the fish! Might have to try that one. Not for fish, but for whatever Miss TikiBoo is currently desiring.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Hi there, I'm new to your blog. Love all your op shop finds - I'm a little op shop obsessed myself :-) Mel x

    ReplyDelete
  8. I have missed so many lovely posts.....I loved your out door garden tea party and your re-do it looks so amazing with the fish....and your new thrifted treasures...my heart skipped a beat!

    ReplyDelete
  9. Haha fish dollars love it! Wow I am loving the Lego exhibition (and the guns)... What a pretty skirt Liongirl has on :-)

    ReplyDelete
  10. But, but, but where are the crowds? Oh, that's right, it's not the final week of a SYDNEY exhibition where the crowds go crazy trying to knock each other out. You are from the civilised and sensible regional areas of our fine country. I am SO envious right now!! x

    ReplyDelete
  11. I heard it was the place to go, hubby took Miss 8 and they had a blast. He really went for himself he's bike crazy at the moment my hubby I'm not sure how much longer I can put off the motor bike riding for.....

    ReplyDelete