It Was Like I Had That Little Devil on My Shoulder.
Shane had been playing a video game for what seemed like forever. Usually, the boys get an hour a day to play – after homework, of course. But on this day, Shane was limited on time – and was using his only time in the world to chase blobs around a screen.
“I have had it!” I shrieked, blowing my cool. “You are NOT going to play any more video games today! Turn it off right now!”
Shane turned it off. Right then.
Half an hour later, I went to pick up Dylan and I left Shane alone in the house.
And I was ill-prepared for what Shane told me when I got home.
“Mom?” he said. “When you were gone, I forgot that I wasn’t supposed to play video games and I just automatically turned on the computer. And then I remembered that I wasn’t supposed to play. So I turned it off.”
“That’s great!” I said.
“But then,” Shane said, “I heard this voice in my head saying, no one would know if you play video games. Because no one was home. It was like I had that little devil on my shoulder, but it was a voice in my head.”
“So what did you do?”
“Well I turned off the game!” Shane said. “And I didn’t listen to that voice!”
“That’s awesome!” I said, giving him a huge hug. “That was such an incredibly mature decision!”
I was so excited, and so proud of him. In addition to his smart choice, I wanted to reward him for his honesty. So I gave him a Bonus Star, which went on his chore chart.
Ironically, a Bonus Star translates into … an extra half hour of video game time.