Wednesday, June 10, 2009

a couple of randoms


as we all know, summer is here. and i love it. i love having my kids close to me. i am not looking forward to them going back to school- on august second. that is a short summer.

what i have to report is that our summer is turning out splendidly. i have implemented the 3 otter pop plan. have you heard of it? probably not. i came up with it out of necessity on the first day of summer break. it goes like this: the children may have 3 otter pops everyday. they can eat them all at once, or spread them throughout the day.

here's the beauty part: they may not eat any otter pops until they are dressed, their beds are made, their pajamas are put away and we have read scriptures. and this all has to be done by 10:00 a.m. or no otter pops.

it is working beautifully. it motivates my children. they have earned their 3 treats everyday so far. one of them eats all her otter pops at once- sometimes even right after breakfast. *gasp* one of them may not even eat an otter pop at all, but her stuff is always done. and the son will usually have one or two. and it makes us all happy.

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my phone has had no dial tone the past two days. for whatever reason. i only found this out after my sister called my cell phone yesterday morning to ask me what was up with my phone. it just gave the message that our line was being worked on. whatever that means.

so, after a few more calls on my cell phone from concerned citizens, i finally decided to place a call to the phone company to see what was up. and the customer service lady called my home and got no such message that our line was being worked on. but, she graciously agreed to send a technician out to see what the problem was.

the technician came today. while he was working on my line, my mind drifted back to my childhood best friend and all the hours we would spend placing prank calls to various homes in rifle, colorado- the town of my youth.

there was a pizza parlor we would call and ask for ree-ro ree-ro. seriously. a couple times a month.

then, we did the traditional- "this is the phone company. we are working on your line. if anyone calls, please do not answer or it will harm the technician."

of course, we promptly called the same number again and screamed as loud as we could into the phone.

oh, how i feel sorry for my children. caller i.d. has ruined all the fun they never knew they should be having as kids.

anyway, i am off to enjoy an otter pop- i am dressed, my bed is made, my p.j.'s put away, and scriptures read.

i think i am in the mood for louie blooie. what's your favorite? and how do you motivate your kids? and what is your favorite prank call?
p.s. my phone is working again. in case you wanted to call. or prank call. whatever.

9 comments:

Heidi said...

good ideas. still working on how to get the school out of the girl now that the girl is out of school. she's very sensitive about everything lately: cuts, brothers bothering her too much just generally not on board with what everyone around her is trying to get accomplished. frustrated so maybe the otter pop rule will get implemented. definitely the job chart is up and there will be privileges that follow. best of luck and my favorite prank call is anything Bart Simpson has pulled (rather PG-13 for your ears tho) plus "Is your refrigerator running?...then go catch it!"

fish said...

i love your 3 otter pop plan. but, i would never earn one-- the whole bed made, no pj's thing would really throw off my summer groove. plus, i was never an otter pop brand fan. i'm more of a ice pop girl, pink flavor please.

Sarah said...

Loved otter pops, but remarkably - we had a discussion about how they were home all the time now, and it wasn't fair for mom to do everything. AND IT WORKED. It's only been a week, but they have been fantastic... *knock on wood*

Me (aka Danielle) said...

Modern technology really has put a damper on the days of prank calls. Things just aren't what they used to be. I have never heard some of those lines..the ones you used as a kid. I wish I had been able to try them. Classic!!

Nathan said...

Caller ID has also ruined all of us from answering the phone. When I had to try to get prayer "volunteers" for church, I cursed caller ID on a weekly basis.

Ashley said...

Yay for summer! I really like your otter pop plan!

Rebecca Talley said...

I love having my kids home for the summer, but I've banned otter pops because my children cannot figure out how to get the wrappers into the trashcan--I find evidence of otter pops all over the house and yard. Drives me nutty.

Randibee said...

My favorite is the green otter pops! As to motivation, my kids have none--and neither do I.

charrette said...

Hahaha! I love the 3 Otter Pops plan. Last year a actually adopted a NO OTTER POPS plan (which is still in force) *gasp!* Because I cannot stand finding the sticky wrappers everywhere...especially those trimmed-off ends.

Our summer routing consists of 20 minutes of reading, 20 minutes of writing (mostly journaling), 20 minutes of art and/or music (their choice) and 1 chore. After that they can pretty much do whatever they want.