Fish Points

Lee recently came up with an amazing idea in terms of rewarding Cora for good behavior. One random afternoon, he showed up at the house with a 10 gallon fist tank for Cora. I "gently" reminded him Easter was still a few weeks away. He said the fish tank was better than an Easter present. This fish tank was for Fish Points. She had to earn 5 fish points in order to get her first fish. For her first 5 points, she had to sleep in her own bed for 5 nights. It all seemed easy enough. We set the tank up while Cora was taking a nap. As soon as she woke, we showed her the tank and explained how she could earn Fish Points. She was super excited. She slept in her bed with a little bit of help but no fussing! It was great. Lee and I have been the only things Cora has ever been attached to. She has no blanket, no binkie, no stuffed animal, nothing that can soothe her. Only Lee or me. Sleeping by herself in her bed is a pretty big deal and she has been doing way better than I expected. After only 3 nights (read: 3 fish points), Lee took her to the fish store and came home with a Red Platinum Guppy as a "scout" fish. I think he may be the most excited about this tank.

Cora has since "earned" a total of 9 guppies. I am not convinced she has actually earned them, but I do think she has deserved them. I am currently working on a Fish Point Chart for Cora. We are going to incorporate small tasks and chores (brushing teeth, brushing hair, helping pick up her room, etc) into this Fish Point reward system. Not all rewards will be fish, but instead things like $1, a special movie night, candy, etc. I think it will really help her to be able to visualize the point system with a chart.

These are pictures of Cora bringing home her first guppy.

Mommy! Look!! It's a fish!

30 minutes floating the bag in the tank. Cora was having a hard time not touching the bag.

Mommy! NO more pictures of fish!!

Mixing the water for 15 minutes. Such a tedious job bringing home a guppy.

The fish is officially in the tank. And, Cora hates wearing clothes when we are home.

Hi Fishy!

Hugging the fish.

We have since added fake plants and 8 more guppies to the tank.

Kisses for the fish.

Unfortunately, we have a problem with Cora's guppies committing fish suicide. This one tragically jumped out of his cage and was eaten by Reggie. Another guppy jumped out right in front of Lee today. Lee was able to throw him back in the tank before he died. We've also been catching Cora elbow deep in the tank trying to catch the fish so she could pet them. Of course, now we've noticed that there are at least 3 with white spots that look like some sort of fungus. Off to the fish store tomorrow for medication. Hopefully it works. If not, it's going to take a while for this tank to withstand a 3 year old. We may have to switch to goldfish.