October 11, 2024

I Bribe My Kids…

40+ Goosebumps books and 75+ pages of math word problems =’s a Star Wars Lego for my son.  Good old bribery in action…

I will admit that I am guilty of bribery as a parenting technique…  Yet, I really do hate using bribes for anything, except summer learning.  Truthfully, I am confused at what is bribing and what is rewarding.  What’s an allowance? 

Most parenting gurus will tell you that bribery of our kiddos is a no, no!  Web MD, warns about bribing for good behavior here.   Now, while I try my best not to bribe the kids to be well behaved since I expect that and they will be punished if they do not behave.  I also make sure I never use food as a bribe.  On the other hand, I shell out cash to get my son to read tons and do math word problems over the summer months. He already loves to read and do math…  I just anty up my expectations that he read at least an hour a day (he chooses to read over that most days) and do a page of math word problems. If he chooses to do these things, he gets to spend thirty bucks at the end of the summer at a toy store.  I am on year two of this method and it works for me and my son.  It’s something he looks forward to over the summer.   I know he already loves books so why not push him a little harder with a bribe? Or is it just a way to cultivate materialism and greed in him like many articles tell me?  Hmmm…