"'I cannot go to school today,' said little Peggy Ann McKay."

My attempt at Photoshop art

Regan's got an abscessed tooth that's going to get a crown Monday. Ouch.

I remember how bad it hurt when I had 4 dry-sockets after getting my wisdom teeth out. It's like each tooth individually pulling out a giant Taser and firing it through your eyeballs and into the inside of your skull -- and holding down the trigger.

So she's been on Tylenol (with Codeine?!) (whenever she'll take it), and anti-biotics.

(Any grade school kids actually like school?)

As a sidenote, Regan's not terribly fond of school at the moment. I don't remember *ever* being fond of school, but something about you hopes that your kids will like it. It's that same "something" that hopes maybe they'll get a college scholarship from the 1st grade.

(Most of our behaviors are a result of positive feedback, maybe we just need to give her more positive feedback on her work.)

(Generous, or "buying" friends?)

As another sidenote, last week I traded her all of her remaining Halloween candy for a $10 toy at Target. She then took it to school (without us knowing) and came home that night wanting us to take her to Target so she could buy herself another one, since she "left it" in her desk. After some prodding, though, she finally admitted that she'd given it away to one of her classmates.

Yeah, she took a credibility hit on that one.

School? My tooth hurts!

Whenever the topic of school is not being discussed, she seems in pretty good spirits.

So with all that in perspective, this morning she comes with a long face:

"Regan, get your shoes on, you've got school."

"Ohhh, my tooth hurts!"

Do I believe that?? Is that enough to stay home from school?

"Okay, if you're going to stay home, you have to stay in bed. As soon as you get out of bed, you have to go to school."

I figure if the tooth really does hurt, staying in bed is better than school. If it doesn't, going to school should be beter than staying in bed... Hope it works.

What do you think?

How do you decide when your kids get to stay home from school?

And when they do have to go, what do you do when they collapse on the floor and refuse to move?

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I'm convinced one of the greatest skills a parent can have is the ability to motivate their kids to do stuff. I suppose "fear of punishment" is one way, but I've seen better ways...