Taking the initiative...

Well...if my son(s) doesn't get up in the morning the first time he's told... preferably without being told.. we have made them put cell phone, laptop and video game controllers in our room at night because they aren't getting enough sleep. Even if this isn't the problem, it seems to motivate them to get up on time so they don't have to do this.

I think at tween age time it is normal for them to do it. They are getting older and testing boundaries. I always used cold hard cash as an incentive. They would all start out with a certain amount of money each week. For every time they were running late (not getting up on time) they got docked. For everytime I had to say something to them more then once, they got docked. My dd was best at this game and always ended with the most money lol. The boys would work harder every week to try and get that money though, and it worked.

That's why I try to make logical consequences...although I'm not opposed to rewards. My thought is...if you don't have enough energy to get up at a reasonable time...then you either need an earlier bedtime, or you need to remove distractions that keep you awake and may wake you up at night....so we remove all of the items that he might be up using late at night.

I found that when I got a copy of the texting log from our cell phone comany one of my sons was texting at all hours of the night, but we didn't know it...he was also doing too much texting during class time. His choice was to turn over the phone at bedtime, or have texting removed from his cell phone. Eventually, he decided to start getting up early enough on his own so that he didn't lose his adult privileges. Adult privileges are just that privileges...if they don't show adult responsibility, they don't get to keep those privileges.

Well for us it wasnt really bribing. I see it this way. We all get paid to work, if you dont work, you dont get paid. That was the philosophy I used. So when they didnt get up on time, and took my time from me I took that money they could have earned. If they didnt put their laundry away, that took more of my time, and their money from them, to me.

It takes 21 days to make or break a habit; you need to get your child in a routine

I am struggling with my DD on this as well.

What seems to be slowly working is a chore chart. It goes from Sunday to Saturday. It's a dry-erase laminated poster board. My DD and I sat down and discussed what 'chores' would be put on. At the bottom there is a reward section. Each chore done that day is a point. When a certain amount of points are achieved, they get a specific reward. The reward is something important for them to get or "purchase" with their points.

For my DD her points rewards go like this:
10 points = 1 candy bar of her choice
35 points = 1 Hello Kitty plush doll
75 points = 1 Monster High doll

Once an item has been "purchased" it is taken off the list. I try to price the things in advance so the points are comparable. The reward points can be changed to different amounts for different rewards. Points can also be taken away...Very motivational. ;)