A Deal's a Deal!

Jacob. 14 years old going on 5 and I just adore that kid. He keeps me on my toes. My mom calls him my "Peter Pan" and that just couldn't be a more accurate description. He's so innocent and active and . . . well . . . Jacob.

He just loves his PSP thingy he got for his birthday this year. I'm such a non-video game mom. I resist it and, then when I finally give in, the privilege comes with "conditions." Jacob's is no exception.

1. Only allowed to play with the toy on the bus to school and when the chores and homework are complete.
2. Only allowed to play with it on weekends and non-school nights
3. Taking food into the bedroom results in a 10-day loss of the privilege.

For now, those are pretty much the conditions. It's always a pretty good lever to get my way since the boy thinks this thing is the hot-diggity-dig.

I was away this weekend in LA visiting Skip. Danielle and company were in charge of the compound. When I got home Danielle said, "OMG! Jacob had a whole bunch of cuties stashed in his room. The whole place smelled of citrus. Jeff just stole them all back, lol."

What? Did that sound like a violation of our agreement? Yep, I think it did. So this morning when Jacob was getting ready for school he said, "Mom, can I get my PSP before my bus gets here?"

I then told him of my discovery and how I felt like he was in breach of our contract. I braced myself for a meltdown or a serious argument in the least. He just looked at me and said, "Yeah, you're right. So . . . next Thursday I can get it and my ipod back?"

"Yeah, Buddy, that's our deal."

Jacob replied, "And a deal's a deal!"

I have to say I'm pretty impressed with my son. This is a big step for him. Typically, in the past, he would have launched into a screaming and crying tantrum and made a huge scene. Looks like my little guy is growing up (at least for today, right?)