Rewards and Choices

We start each morning with half an hour reading time.  I shouldn't say every morning, that's a bit of an exaggeration.  But at least 3 or 4 mornings each week.  The current read is still Wonder, by R.J. Palacio.  I mentioned how London feels about that book in a previous post.  I read about twenty minutes this morning and then informed the boys that I had a challenge for them.  Whoever could get their room and zone (best idea ever for picking up the house) cleaned up first would get to choose the reward for the whole family.  Three choices: 30 more minutes of reading, choosing a game to play as a family, or 10 extra minutes of screen time.  And as soon as I said screen time I wanted to retract. Why would I offer them more screen time?  Anyway, we turned on some music, started cleaning, and kept going for maybe 45 minutes.  Surprising, yes, but that wasn't the best part.  When we finally stopped cleaning, I told them they'd both cooperated so well they could both pick a reward.  My mama-heart leapt within me as they both called out in unison, "thirty minutes of reading."  So we read for an hour.  And I was worried about screen time...