Monkeys and Decks and Wasps, Oh My!!

Well, I officially now know how to motivate Jim to do things around the house! :D I mean, I was doing pretty good till I stumbled on to the real secret to success.

I've known for a long time that the best way to get people to do things is to give them a goal or a reward of sorts. My problem is that I didn't know just how effective that really could be. And let me tell you, Jim responds REALLY well to this method.

Quietly, I snapped pictures

See, for sometime I've been kicking around the idea of getting Jim this game that he's wanted since he knew it was in production. You've probably heard of it, Diablo III. Well, initially I didn't want to get Jim this game cause he has had a problem in the past with managing his time well. I've been made many promises, none of which have been fulfilled by him. So, it was a major source of contention between us. I have had lots of negative feelings towards him due to other time-wasting games, World of Warcraft being at the top of my hate list. I used to play as well, but I got tired of being ignored and snapped at by Jim because he had things to do and I wasn't going to let him forget. I also hated that the only thing that we ever did together was play this stupid game. That, and I will never forget the time that something happened to his computer and I had to reinstall the game, which takes several hours to install, and he had a conniption fit directed at me. That's when I knew that he had a problem. And believe me, I've spent lots of time working on changing his perspective and trying to get him to realize that he had a problem. And it's paid off. He has realized that he has a problem and he knows that those days were dark days as far as how well we got along and how he treated me. You might be thinking that it's not possible, that people cannot get addicted to games and that it couldn't possibly cause problems in people's lives, but believe me when I say, it can and does happen.

Jim finally noticed that I was spying on him

Getting back on the subject, you can see why I was a bit leery to get this game. But Jim has been really good. Since he hasn't had access to the internet and games very much for over a year, he's changed . He's aware of the problem and since we've got the internet he has been pretty good about not just zoning out in front of the computer. He can even play games and then later do things he knows he has to do. Like I said, I've been working on this issue really hard. I've been working overtime since I knew we were going to have a baby. He had the "be a good role model" speech pounded into his head and could probably recite it word for word now, lol.

Anyway, the game was scheduled to come out just a few days after his birthday. So I was tossing around the idea of getting it, however his friend beat me to the punch and asked me if that was something he could get him. After thinking about it for a day or two I gave his friend the green light and I decided that Jim couldn't install till he finished refinishing the deck. He had already started before anything about the game was mentioned and he worked at it without prompting (for those of you who know Jim, you might be thinking, "Holy cow! Jim doing something without being told!!"). But at the speed at which he was at it, it might have taken him quite a while to get it done, probably 2-3 months. So, when a copy of the game was handed over to him and his eyes glazed over, I ripped it out of his hands and said, "When the deck is done, we'll install it. Not a moment before." :D It was like someone built a fire under that boy's butt and now Jim is intending to have it ready to stain by June 1st, and I'll be darned if he hasn't been out there working on it constantly. Everyone just needs proper motivation. :P

You might be thinking, "But why would you even let Jim have the game if he has a problem?" However, the idea is not to remake Jim. I'm not out to change him, I just want to help him make better decisions and make the transition to adult thinking. I want Jim to still be able to enjoy the things he likes to do, but to be a responsible adult. Which I feel is going well. Hopefully, you're not busy thinking I'm some kind of control freak, I really do only have Jim's best interests at heart.

It will be really nice to have our deck all nice and finished. It's such a pretty deck, it would be a waste to let it go to hell. However, not all has been awesome in paradise. It seems we have a bit of a wasp/hornet/bee infestation. Jim's been very busy killing wasps left and right and knocking down nests and stuffing cracks that they have built nests in. You literally couldn't go out there without getting swarmed or stung, which really stunk.

This shows the amount of sanding it needed. Look how pretty the wood is after it's been taken care of!

And now for something completely different!

We'd best keep this photo a secret between us! I had to beg and plead just to get him to agree to let me take it! So, shhh!! :D

Moving on to yet another subject, here is a photo of the theme of the nursery! It's going to be the cutest monkey room ever with monkeys so cute I just want to pinch their cute little monkey cheeks!!

 I looked and looked and was pretty sure that I wouldn't get to have a cute nursery. All the boy stuff is totally lame or has a bunch of ugly colors or is just not what I had in mind, till I stumbled on to this cute little monkey. I even have some decals to stick on the wall with these monkeys on it. I just not sure that I'll be able to get the nursery done till after I have the baby. The walls had wallpaper on them and I removed all but a little section off the walls. Now, I have to scrub the glue off the walls and it ain't coming off easy either. My stomach muscles starts hurting when I do it and I was told not to do anything that makes me hurt...so I'm not really sure how it's going to get done...But I'm totally excited to get it all painted and decorated. Woo!