Back to normal?

Well, we are home and back into the swing of things, or are we? I am amazed at the fact that very rarely can a week go by without my having to deal with some new parenting dilemma. I have been doing a pretty good job (I think) of keeping Mary occupied and entertained this summer. Sometimes, that involves a trip to the grocery store, or the Super Target. I realized that I have always bought Mary something, anything, even just an Archie comic book at the checkout line. Mary asks, Mary receives. Never mind the fact that I very easily tell my other children no all the time. Well, what I have been doing is creating an "I want" monster that cannot be tamed! Of course I am realizing this all now that it seems impossible to reverse the damage.

Well, with all my 21 years of mothering experience I figured I could come up with something. So, I decided I would incorporate some type of allowance, chore type thing. It works with my other kids. I know, we should have done it years ago. I have tried, but it never goes as planned with Mary, so I never pushed it. What I did was assign a small amount to each chore, like .50 cents for picking up pieces of paper, $1.00 for putting books away, etc. I wrote all this down on her dry erase board in her room. Mary seemed to follow along with my explanation of you can do a little everyday, and wait till you have enough saved to buy yourself something. Ha! What I have now is, "Mom, I picked up the paper in my room, can we go to Target?" Sure, with .50 cents you earned I'll buy you a $15 toy! Remember, Mary has a math disorder, absolutely NO concept of numbers!
Apparently, what she got out of my little lesson was, if you clean you room I will buy you something. It is so ironic how she is so easily manipulated with the easy stuff, yet I cannot manipulate her with all the complicated stuff. No matter how I try to spin it, I said I would let her get stuff at the store. So, until I can figure all this out, probably with professional help, I thank God she has older siblings I can leave her with so I can go to the grocery store.