January 31, 2005 - Monday
Ever since we bought Rip a Bionicle for his birthday present, Harry's been after me to buy him another Bionicle like the big one we gave Rip. I guess when we bought Rip's one and Harry got so upset about not getting one for himself, I did not shut the door on "coming back soon" to get one for him and Jeremy. And Harry has been relentless ever since; even though his mother actually did buy him and Jeremy a small Boinicle the very day after Rip's party - she says they were both being so incredibly polite and well-behaved that she figured spending less than $4 apiece would be a suitable reward.

Unfortunately, that small Bionicle was not the big "spider guy" that Harry had truly wanted and whether it's related or not, Harry has not been very angelic since. In fact, he's been rude, although arguably more from being selfish than overtly nasty, but it's behavior that has not been fun to be around. So, this past Saturday I told Harry that if he was going to be nasty he shouldn't expect anyone to be nice to him and that I would not be buying him any Bionicles. Actually, I'd being saying that general thing about the Bionicle for the last few days, but today I put a time frame on it. I told Harry that since he had been so nasty lately, it would be at least a week (until the Super Bowl Party) of his being nice before I even thought about buying him a new Bionicle. Harry heard something a little different: that I would buy him a new Bionicle if he could be nice for a whole week.

I guess it was a cause and effect statement and Harry just cut away the fluff. Still, the result has been impressive. Since then Harry has been on his absolute best behavior, asking politely, being courteous, putting away his coat and shoes, and on and on. It's been great. I suppose if it continues for the whole week it will be worth the new Bionicle.


Comments, Opinions?