The Severed Cortex

We actually hung out with Robert right before we went on the cruise, but I never got around to writing about it. Robert had gotten in a little trouble and Nancy and I picked him up to eat dinner with us. I was not pleased with him and we played good cop, bad cop with him. I played bad cop. We tried to drive home that we wouldn't put up with that kind of behavior.

It appears that approach was not all that successful as Robert got in trouble this last week for the same thing. However this time we think he's acting out because he wants to buy things for his mother and teacher. We think he believes if he has money, he can do nice things for those that he's close to. Nancy and I are going to try a two headed approach this time. Since my birthday is coming up, she is going to try to show him that you don't necessarily need money to make someone you're close to happy. My job is to show him that there are ways to earn money, primarily by working hard.

I picked him up last Saturday morning with instructions to wear old clothes. He would be getting dirty. On the way to the house we picked up a pickup truck load of hardwood mulch. I shoveled the mulch out of the truck and wheelbarrowed it out to the various spots in the back yard, he was in charge of spreading it out. He even took his shoes off and kicked it around some. I was hoping to get two truckloads done, but it was really cold and he started telling me he couldn't feel his hands. We quit after one truckload and went to eat lunch at McDonald's. (his choice) He asked me how much he would get paid and I asked him how much he thought he earned. He told me somewhere between $3 and $5 dollars. I paid him $4, but we're going to hold on to it for the next time we hang out.