As I mentioned in my earlier posts Sydney has begun to start a reward system for work completed while in school. Her teacher received a 33 minute in our life DVD just the other day so she can see how the work was being completed, how much involvement there was on my part and also let her see how Sydney reads while in a comfortable setting. Since Monday we have been working together to give Sydney the boost she needs to realize that she in fact can accomplish her tasks at school. Her teacher will give her a sticker in her homework book for everything that she does. In turn if all of the things are completed I will give her a reward for each day that there is nothing to be done at home. These rewards are simple and do not involve monetary implications, so it’s things that we together have come up with such as:

• rollerblading with mom
• watching a special episode of a show together
• colouring
• printing out a special colouring sheet
• making cookies together
• go to the park
• have a playdate

For the longest time when it came to rewards it wasn’t a feasible situation because there was nothing that would encourage Sydney to do anything. Nothing other than my physical presence would motivate her. She’s learned over the last year that rewards that involve me are worth it. In turn she’s continually turning corners.

Monday she came home with all 8 tasks and it took about 40 minutes. Tuesday she came home with only 2 things and Wednesday she came home with only 1 item, writing in her agenda. She was SO proud of herself and happy that she had completed almost everything. I was overjoyed but didn’t want to make too big a deal about it either because I didn’t want her to start to worry about being able to do it again.

Clearly it was in her head today because as we were standing in line today she asked me, “What happens if I don’t do everything today?”. I replied, “What do you think will happen?”. She shrugged and looked dismayed. I told her “Just try your best and you’ll see it will all work out. It doesn’t all have to be perfect you just need to give it a try. We don’t always know all the answers, we don’t always know what to do but there is always someone that can help you and you are in a safe place.”

I expect some sort of back fire perhaps that the pessimist in me but we always take a step forward and then momentarily take a step back, only to lunge forward again. Let’s hope the pattern doesn’t break!