Christmas in August

A few weeks ago I won a $250 gift card from the Australian Geographic Shop for this post.  Well, Patrick and Grace (and me) want to give a huge thank you to Nurofen for Children, Nuffnang and Australian Geographic.  The kids thought all their Christmases had come at once.  My original plan was to let them spend $50 each and then buy a few gifts for some friends and my nieces and nephews.  Well that went out the door the minute we walked into the store.

The kids saw so many things that they 'needed'.    Of course, Paddy 'needed' the archery set because that is the sport that he is researching for his Olympic task.

...and Gracie 'needed' that lip balm set and nail kit because all of her friends have them and she doesn't.

So they thought and thought and looked and looked.  I decided that it was time to work out a strategy so we headed to a cafe and sat down and made a list of what they 'needed' most.  It was a difficult task to narrow down a list a mile long down to just a few but they did it and the total cost worked out 50/50 give or take a dollar or two.  

So we returned to the store with our gift card and list in hand and came out with the most amazing products

Here is the result of our shopping spree

Paddy selected -  Z-Curve Bow, Magical Unbelievable Light,  Money Monster Box, Chromatic Bucky Balls and X-Shot Fire Ball

Gracie selected -  Magic Nail Lab, invisible write pen, a mood ring, mini drawing projector, Chalk Top Launcher and Lip Balm Lab

and to share they selected a clay pottery wheel.

Now don't think that I spoilt them with all these gifts at once.  As much as that would be lovely, I just couldn't justify it so from the list they selected one gift and the others have been put away.  We have started a ten tick system for positive behaviour and as soon as they reach ten they can selected something for the gift stash. 

When the kids were younger, I used the positive reward system all the time but I haven't used it for years.  Let me tell you, it still works it's magic around here  The kids have been having their bath/shower on time, getting their homework done perfectly, unpacking the dishwasher and being so kind to each other like you wouldn't believe.  I should have re-introduced the ticks years ago.

Thanks again  Nurofen for Children, Nuffnang and Australian Geographic