Red light, Green Light

One of the highlights (or low lights, depending on the bear cub) for all kindergarten bears is the school behavior/conduct system. Brother Bear is enthralled with it.

The system is based off of the traffic light system: green = good; yellow = warning; orange = time out; red = visit to the principal & call to parents. (Yes, I know that most traffic lights don't have orange. The school system, unlike the police, offers a little grace) Each bear cub has a clothespin with their name on it. Every day, they begin with their personal "clip" on green. Then, depending on their behavior, the clip moves accordingly. The final color is reported to the Mama and Papa Bears in the bear cub's Daily Folder. (BTW, have you noticed that The Department of Homeland Security's Threat Level is eerily similar? Just an observation....)

Did I mention that Brother Bear is enthralled with this system? Each day, we have to report not only our own behavior but the behavior of all of our peers. He is also very concerned with keeping his clip on green. Which means he's concerned about behaving appropriately. OH. MY. GOSH. WHY DIDN'T I HAVE THIS SYSTEM THREE YEARS AGO?? If I had know that this simple program would make my child a law abiding bear-citizen, I SO would have implemented it years ago!!

Fortunately for me, my industrious bear cub was kind enough to create one of these handy-dandy clip systems for our household. How kind. Here's a look at his creation:

He gets an "A" for effort at least!?!

Well. It seems that this household clip chart was not created to oversee the behavior of our eldest bear cub. Instead, this clip chart was created to keep track of Mama and Papa Bear and all injustices poured out upon Brother Bear. For example: having the audacity to serve him round pizza (read: homemade english muffin pizzas) instead of triangular pizza (read: bought at the pizza shop pizza) warranted me a clip move to Yellow. Whoops. Who would have known?

So, the other night, Papa Bear was putting Brother Bear to bed and was having a more-difficult-than-normal-time getting Brother Bear to pick up and put away his toys. After multiple threats, Papa Bear finally had to revoke privileges. Oh lordy. The weeping and nashing of teeth that ensued was monumental. Then, Brother Bear marched to the "clip system" and proceeded to communicate in no uncertain terms that Papa Bear's clip was moving to RED! Let's just say that Papa Bear wasn't fazed by the clip move.

After the skirmish was over, Papa Bear came into the room and I mockingly said, "Ooooh, you got moved to RED. I've never gotten a RED before." Do you know what Papa Bear's response was?

He said, "Hey, I'm an overachiever, baby!"

Overachiever indeed!

Oh. And, in case you are wondering, after that last "clip incident", the home clip chart has "mysteriously" disappeared....