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December 2, 2006 - Saturday
Two weeks ago after Jeremy's last cello lesson I talked to him again about paying attention during his lesson. He's not been as bad as he was a year ago, and it's really kind of unreasonable to expect a 5-year-old to be able to stay focus for a full 30 minute lesson, but it seemed like a good time to push him a bit to at least try a little harder not to be (inadvertently) disrespectful. But Jeremy may have got the better of the discussion. Somewhere in the mist of me saying this he was able to negotiate a deal that if he was "good" for the next three lessons, I would buy him a toy.

Actually, when Jeremy first said it the offer was that if he would be good at the next lesson I would get him a toy, but I received that idea with a chuckle saying he should be good anyway. Yet I also added that it would take being good for a lot more than one lesson for him to earn a toy.
"How about if I'm good for the next three lessons I'll get a toy?" He's a sly one.
"OK, I suppose if you can be good for three lessons in a row, I can get you a toy." He had me. Of course, it was a calculated risk. How likely was it for Jeremy to be good for three lessons in a row without fooling around? Would he even remember making this deal a month from now? (With Jeremy there was a strong chance that he would.) Or, if he was good for three lessons in a row, wouldn't that create the beginnings of a good habit that would be easier to maintain after that and wouldn't that be worth a toy? And then there was being fair to Harry, who seems always good at his lessons, but I figured I could work that out somehow.

Today was lesson #1 and Jeremy was better than usual, but there was still room for improvement. And that's what I told him when he reminded my about our agreement.
"You were better today, and we can count this as your first lesson of three, but I think to earn a toy you're going to need to do even better than that for the next couple of lessons." OK, so I'm playing a little hardball with a 5-year-old, but I think it's for the best.


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