Behavior in a Box

The parents are stepping up the structure in this house, and I'm not sure yet how I feel about that. What started out as a fun family trip to the teacher's supply store has turned into a whole new system of tracking my "good behavior." Apparently it has something to do with me getting older, needing to learn routine so I can get ready to go to school. And, ok...maybe it has a tiny bit to do with my occasional tantrums. But I don't really think you can point the finger at me for that. I mean, they're the ones who let me watch "Willy Wonka and The Chocolate Factory" everyday. They should have known I'd take that "I Want It Now!" song to heart.

Anyhow, I have to say that they're being pretty nice about the whole thing. They put up this cool new chart on the refrigerator to keep track of my good habits and behavior. The more good things I do, the more stickers I get. And the more stickers I get, the better my chances of getting a SURPRISE! (Meaning a new Hot Wheels car...they don't realize yet that I've got that part figured out, so it's not really much of a surprise). It's been kind of exciting for me to get to choose which stickers I want and to see that big "surprise" box on top of the refrigerator. So I've been trying to lay off the naughty-guy role as much as possible. But it's hard sometimes, y'know? Especially when they expect me to do irrational things like brush my teeth, take showers and try to use the potty (!). I'm an incredible kid, but I'm not super-human.

One of the categories on the chart that I've pretty much got down to a science is the "quiet play." They like it when I spend some time during the day playing quietly on my own. And I love it too. Who doesn't appreciate some good down time reading a book or listening to music, right? Dad has also helped me out by putting some cool games on his computer that I can play. Of course then they go and complicate things by putting time limits on my computer play time. Dad says it's cuz he has to work, but I don't know how much "work" he gets done on Facebook.

This afternoon's quiet play involved my Caterpillar train. I've had train on the brain ever since last week's trip to Wilson Park. Papa joined right in the excitement and ordered me a new set of engineer overalls, which I haven't taken off since he gave them to me. Mom insisted that we had to wash them today, so I agreed. But I didn't realize that meant I'd have to wait so long. Ten minutes in the washing machine and then over half an hour in the dryer! Of course I had a tantrum about that, but who can blame me? Eventually I calmed down and she said they'll be fresh and clean for me to put on in the morning. So I just have to get through the night without them. *sigh*

I wonder if that'll get me a sticker for patience.