I paid my daughter $100 dollars to read a chapter book (Blurb)

   

 It is all in the title.  I paid my daughter $100 dollars to read a chapter book.  Wanna know a few kickers?  

I offered it a month or so before she actually did it

She actually did it

She by now has read over ten

I very much enjoy reading, and as Kyley was growing up I was seeing a great desire in her for stories.  I would read to her at night and she LOVED every bit of it.  I was certain she would quickly pick up reading and be ten miles deep into books before I could blink, but I was wrong. 

It was a beast teaching her how to read. 

While I was not the main one at the reins of such beast (my wife was) I did try it out a few times to find I only ended up with a frustrated and angry little girl and likely only three or four words read.

I was getting fed up because I KNEW she would enjoy it if she would just get into it.  

She got to the point where she could read small children's books and would read them to her brothers when they asked, so we thought it was time for a chapter book.  

Boy were we wrong... as soon as she saw the mountain of words on the page.. she ran high tell as far away as she could.  

I think one of the funniest moments was when she was being used in a video for my brothers friends and she was suppose to show her ability to read.  The girl working with my daughter opens a sponge bob book and asks if she can read the two pages out.  Kyley looks at it, looks back and the girl and says, "No".  

I knew she could likely read it, but it was more than 5 words between the two pages, obviously enough that she could fail at any moment... and on camera at that.  She ended up reading one of the pages, which actually meant she could have read both because it was mostly the same words.  

Odd what we shy away from in ignorance...

A month or so after this I was so irritated I decided to do something about it.  Mel was driving, Ky was in the back of the van with her brothers, and without discussing it at all with my wife I turned to Kyley and said, "Kyley, if you read a chapter book - I will pay you $100 dollars."  I turned back and went on with my business.

Over the next few weeks I put stipulations on it, especially because she still had not done it, even though she had plenty to read from.  She was proud of the proposal enough to tell her friends, but still she did not read a chapter book, to my knowledge she had not even really picked one up.

This was about the time we packed everything up and moved into my inlaws, and for some reason Kyley did not really pack any chapter books.  The deal was brought up over and over, by her mostly - I would remind her of the stipulations and tease her I would take away the deal soon.

We were in the store one day and for some reason Ky had a wild hard to buy a chapter book... a ten dollar chapter book and was arguing with her mother about getting it.  Long story short we all agreed she could get it, but it was coming out of her $100 dollars.. therefore the payout was $90 for reading the chapter book she had just purchased. 

A new stipulation was added as well.  She MUST read a chapter a day.  If she did not read a chapter on a day she would loose $10 from the payout.  This may see harsh, but honestly.. it is a simple chapter book and ultimately it had the desired effect.  

She asked if she could read more than one chapter a day, and I was fine with it, but made it understood she still needed to read a chapter a day, so while reading more than one chapter a day did bring the finish of the book closer, faster, it did not roll over into the next day... a new chapter would need to be read on the new day. 

She finished the book in three days - the entire book.. done.. and she got another one.. and finished it in a few days.  

While driving in the car later she told us she was fine with not getting paid anymore for reading, because the reading was fun enough on it's own.  She has since been to the library.. gotten books.. read them all.. and going to get more soon.

My daughter is a reader.. and all I had to do was pay her $100 dollars... hmmm seems reasonable to me! 

Never let the fear of the unknown.. of what seems to be 'too much' or 'too hard' keep you away from something that may bless you, that may open your 'world' to great possibilities.. imaginings... and gaining of knowledge! 

 

  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Share in Tweet!