I bribe my children.

There I said it. I do. I bribe them. I think a lot of parents bribe their children. Some just do it with better results.

I bribe mine. It's just one of the tools in my parenting arsenal. It's the big gun.

M, my eight year old, has Asperger's Syndrome. I would take you a while to realize that there is something different about him but it is there.
This is his third year playing Upward basketball and it's evident that he's not the star player of the team. But he enjoys it and he tries his best.

Today I decided that with only 2 games left he needed to try a little harder and it was my job to push him. In three seasons of playing, he has never scored a goal. Not once.
I told him if he scored a goal today...I would buy him a game for his DS.

That made a world of difference. He took more shots in this one game than he had taken all season. He got rebounds. He fought for the ball. And i also noticed that his team mates were passing to him....a lot. (He later confided that he told them about our deal. They wanted him to get his game.)
But every shot was blocked or just didn't go in.

Then he got fouled in the last period.
2 shots.

The first shot rolled around on the inside of the rim. Around and around....then out.

The second shot.......


Nothing but net.
Nothing but grinning too.

I'm not sure which made him happier.
Getting the game.
Making the shot.
Or having all his team mates congratulating him and telling him that he played a good game...and him knowing that he really did.

Yeah, I bribe my children.