Bribery

Last night Katie Anne was up and down from 2-4.  That's A.M. people.  Not happy.  I usually tell my kids to go to the bathroom then I hug them, take them back and tuck them in bed.  USUALLY, this works.  Most bad dreams, in my opinion, come on by a real bad need to pee.  But, this was not the case with Katie Anne.  I figured she had the drill down because everytime she came in, and it was a lot, she went straight to the bathroom.  Enter another anti-vote for mother of the year. 

This morning when she went potty she yelled, "Owie!"  I went in and sure enough, what is usually yellow was not.  Urinary Tract Infection.  I knew it immediately and wanted to cry for her.  I did.  I know how bad they hurt!  I got her a doctor's appointment and gave her all the sympathy I could until we got there.  Once there they of course wanted a, ahem, sample.  She looked at me real funny when I explained what needed to happen, and then I said, "But I bet they'll give you a sucker if you do it!"  Wah lah!

Next bribe came just after she was given said sucker.  The doctor needed to check her ears and tummy and she was not all that co-operative.  "Let's just get this done and I bet you can pick a prize out of the box!"  The doctor agreed, got what he needed, she got her prize and away we went to Wal-Mart for a perscription for what I myself had diagnosed correctly.

Only problem, Wal-Mart pharmacy isn't open between 1:30 and 2:00.  We had 15 minutes for them to get open, and another 15 (hopefully) to get it filled.  The bribe this time?  Let's get a few things and then "You can look at toys!!!"  She knows the drill, just asks for everything for her birthday in a mere 6 months, and she's a happy camper. 

Here things got a little choppy.  The doctor, who must have really needed a nap even worse than me, wrote her a perscription for PILLS!  What 3 year old is going to take a pill.  Not any I know.  So we had to wait, then wait some more for the pharmacist to get a new perscription from the doctor, then give up and head to Stacy's where she had been hanging with my other 3 kids for going on almost 4 hours. 

Finally, the pharmacist called, I went and got it, went back and picked up the kids, and headed home.  When we got here, I whipped out Katie Anne's next bribe and she took her first dose of medicine.  To make it all go as smoothly as today, I even made a little bribe chart.  It's also a good reminder for me to actually get that medicine in her...

 The only problem...she absolutely HAS to drink water.  So I can keep it a little more under control, we have this cup...drink to the line and get a penny.  Hopefully she'll get enough to earn a trip to the dollar store (how's she even going to know!  She's only 3!  Of course we're going to the dollar store!).

All I can say is, BRIBERY WORKS!