Was This a Good Idea?

The Daylight Dollar program is having some problems.  Haley is not quite as patient for her DVD as she was for her T-shirt.  We have had a couple of melt-downs.

Haley wants her $20 now.  She is not liking the slow process of earning her dollars one at a time.

I usually couch my requests with "Haley, do you want to earn a Daylight dollar?"  Haley will answer "Yeah," and then I ask her to come over and pick up her toys, put away her videos, put away the dishes or take out the recycling.

Her Dad has the tendency to say "Haley, come and empty the dishwasher." to which there is no reply.  Or he says "Haley, do you want to empty the dishwasher?" to which she replies "No."

We have had a couple of incidents where Haley comes over under duress and then starts throwing the plastic into the drawer rather than putting it in the way it belongs.  Her Dad will tell her that she doesn't get her dollar if she does it wrong.  That is what causes the meltdowns.

I figure if she doesn't want to do the job that's fine, she won't get her dollar.  I don't make a big deal out of it. 

It seems that Dad is more interested in the job getting done.

Tonight when Haley didn't want to come over and put away the dishes; he put them away.  I didn't realize that.  I asked her if she wanted her dollar and she did.  When she got over to the dishwasher it was empty.  I had to come up with a plan B quickly.  The question I had asked her of course was "Do you want to earn a Daylight Dollar?"  The answer had been "Yeah."

I asked her to set the table, which is her sister's job.