The responses I got to my backwards Works for Me Wednesday were great. I can't wait to get a better look at some of the suggested sites and get moving on the family Web site.

Now I just have to make the time. We survived the big church musical weekend, so hopefully we can get into a normal routine. Of course, we are starting off the "normal" week with a death in the family, a soccer scrimmage and school skate night.

In honor of returning to normal, I'm working on implementing a new reward system in our house. The talking back, messy house, constant reminding/nagging/ordering of the kids to pick up their stuff/get dressed/eat breakfast/brush teeth/do homework is about to send me over the edge. I'm still formulating my plan, but I intend to start out by giving the kids (except Spencer who's exempt) a coin for doing their chores without a reminder, getting completely ready for school without being nagged, being kind to their siblings and respectful of their parents. After they get the hang of how the new system works, I'll start a new phase. In addition to receiving coins when they have behaved appropriately, I will also take coins away when they behaved inappropriately. It should be so much easier to just grab a coin out of *insert child's name here*'s jar when he/she cops an attitude rather than losing my cool.

If you are laughing at this new method, please let me hold onto my hope that this method might save my sanity -- at least temporarily.