Parker's New Bike

Parker has out-grown his little bike and was thrilled when he got to look at new bikes withWayne. He found the perfect bike. A blue, Supercycle, "Illusion" bike...his dream bike. However, it cost about $80 and both Wayne and I are of the thought that we don't want to just GIVE our kids whatever they ask for.

So Wayne helped Parker make this chart.

The deal was that he had to work extra hard and do some extra chores around the house in order to mark of the 80 squares on his chart and earn his bike. Things started out with a lot of enthusiasm and pride (the good pride), but after a couple of weeks, the work became tedious and Parker would often say, "I think I'm taking the day off today!"

With lots of encouragement and a lot of really hard work, Parker proudly walked out of the store with his new bike. (This is all great timing, since Cardiff's little trike has just recently broke into two pieces!)

I'm so pleased with how hard Parker worked to try to earn this bike. He hauled dirt, dug holes for 17 trees, planted 17 trees, watered 27 trees, set the table, cleared the table, loaded the dishwasher and emptied the dishwasher, did LOTS of recycling, played with Sawyer, ran "errands" in the house and so much more. I really do think he'll appreciate the bike more knowing that it was his hard work that got him the bike!