The cunning mum

Some of you may or may not be aware of the mega battle that rages between parents and technology. Today I feel like I have gained significant ground against this tyrannical god. Yesterday I gave my son a copy of Neil Gainman's Coraline and later asked him how he was finding it to which he said: "it's really wonderful mommy"and in fact even as I type he's at it. Now my son does like reading but if he has to choose between his favourite tv. show his play station and a book, the toss would be between the spawns of technology.

So today while having some me time in the shower, some people sing, I ponder, I had an epiphany. He's always looking for ways of making extra money to save up in his bank account. I think the idea of having an ATM card and depositing and withdrawing is quite appealing to him because he has no access to his current account and with a new phone his lunch allowance doesn't cover maintenance costs.

You may ask: "are their no chores for him to do and get paid" but to me that is tantamount to paying for their being born. I will not pay someone for cleaning out their room, taking out the trash, etc. That's what we all have to do in penance for something we did on the first day we landed on the birthing table.

So I thought it quite clever of me when I said to him this morning I had a business proposal. For each books he reads and writes a review on, I will pay him $2 (R14) which when you consider that this could get me a Kindle eBook I don't think is bad. He may have to reread some but the idea of him actually writing a short assay about what he's read and then type it for publication I think is awesome. He was almost jumping out of his sneakers when I told him he's so excited.

Our agreement is as such.

1. He must come up with a name for his segment on my Fabulosity Reads.
2. He must do at least one review a week.
3. Deliver at least 1 reviews a week using the following structure:

This Story is about

I thought this was really cool.....

I thought it would have been even better if......

In short I think.......

I will go with him to open a new bank account, pay him by EFT each month and then print his bank statement.

I bet you very soon picking up a book will be more common place than picking up the remote. Once books get your creative juices going you can't help but get hooked.