Gift for good grades...

[sofamonkey]

OP, what about a fun day/event? Like a waterpark day or something? Or a nice dinner at a fancy-ish place of your son's choosing? Or an ice cream cake. I hear people like those.

[karmasabiotch]

Good grades are expected so I don't believe in giving a gift for that.

I do give a fun gift to kick off the start of summer vacation. Usually an outside toy.

[Deleted]

May 28, 2015 12:34:19 GMT -5 meggers5 said:

"Good grades are a reward in themselves"
-my mom

Ugh.

This was my mom.  Mind you I was not an honor roll student at all and you should have seen how pissed off and disappointed my mom was that I didn't get any scholarships.  I think her exact words were, "Now we have to pay for your college." As she glared at me.  Well she only had to pay for it for a semester.  

[mrsukyankee]

May 28, 2015 13:04:31 GMT -5 @astrid said:

I can't fathom a C being a good grade in any stretch of the imagination. This may be an example of being so Type A it hurts.

For me in French, it was.  I have a learning disorder and just CAN'T do languages, so getting a C and not failing was a fabulous grade because I worked my ass off to get it.  My parents told me they were more proud of that C than the A's I easily got without trying.

[iamgrace]

I didn't read everything, but enough to know that @astrid is missing the point.

If I had a kid who was getting poor grades and they busted ass to pull them up, and STILL got one C (omg, the horror), yes, I would be proud and take the kid out for dinner or reward them in some manner.


Signed, straight A student with one C blemishing her record. (and I got jack shit for it because I went to school in the dark ages when parents didn't do that kind of stuff lol)

[MixedBerryJam]

May 28, 2015 13:04:31 GMT -5 @astrid said:

I can't fathom a C being a good grade in any stretch of the imagination. This may be an example of being so Type A it hurts.

Story time. My kid got a D+ in something for second term. For third term he had worked the grade up to a C-. During fourth term, he had to write a paper on some "challenge" he faced. He did not show this paper to me.

I ultimately saw the paper and his ::snort:: challenge was "One time I got a D+ and worked it up to a C- and my bitch mother didn't even praise me." I'm paraphrasing.

ETA: That said, my kid is really smart, but also really challenged in his learning style, I guess you could say. We're only now just starting him on adhd meds, and I really do say "good job" sometimes. I'm not a monster, either.

[Deleted]

May 28, 2015 14:02:45 GMT -5 @astrid said:

May 28, 2015 13:59:31 GMT -5 mp said:

Clearly not all book smarts translate to social skills. See: comment above. And also "ratchet sets".

LOL.

I'm not a monster.  I didn't give anyone a ratchet set, nor am I telling a kid they are dumb.  I was also not raised in a household where a C would ever be rewarded. 

You're not a monster.  I get you.

But my household didn't reward even good grades, so that's where I'm coming from.  LOL.

Everybody has different parenting styles.  If people see fit to reward effort, that's great.  If people don't want to reward anything, that's fine, too.

[miniroller]

We were never rewarded But neither were my (equally high achieving) friends, so I'm guessing this is maybe a trend past my time...?

[Deleted]

May 28, 2015 17:32:41 GMT -5 miniroller said:

We were never rewarded But neither were my (equally high achieving) friends, so I'm guessing this is maybe a trend past my time...?

No, I distinctly recall classmates getting rewarded.

One even got a Nissan Maxima for scoring well on his SAT.

[game blouses]

My parents cared a lot more about the "effort" side of the report card. A C grade with an Outstanding effort meant a lot more to them than an A with a Satisfactory effort. Not enough to pay me for them, of course.

That said, I did get my ass handed to me when I came home with Ds.

[juliachild]

I was never rewarded for good grades, but I always did well in school. I was motivated on my own.

I think a nice dinner to his favorite place would be a good reward for someone who worked hard to get better grades.

I'd also like to say that my parents paid my little brother to get goals in hockey, and I've always thought that wasn't fair.

[Deleted]

I am really impressed by the level of involvement of everyone's parents.

I can't say my parents knew if I put in effort or not.

They were cognizant only of results.

[Deleted]

I was so pissed that my parents never bought me real L.A. Gear shoes.

And I know they had money.

This is irrelevant to the discussion at hand, but I still think about it sometimes.

[lulu13]

May 28, 2015 17:57:57 GMT -5 @misoangry said:

I am really impressed by the level of involvement of everyone's parents.

I can't say my parents knew if I put in effort or not.

They were cognizant only of results.

My DD goes in at lunch for math tutoring and will stay after school if needed. She also sees a private tutor once a week. It's important to her that she does well so she's open to anything that will help. We talk a lot about it because I know she's not the type to blow things off and her grades have at times not reflected what I've seen her do to prepare. Differences between her and her brother also make it more evident. If I focused only on results our home environment would not be a happy one for her. The good news is she is building her confidence and figuring out what works best for her and it's reflected in her work.

ETA she also has test anxiety so she's been working on overcoming that as well.

[miniroller]

May 28, 2015 18:03:10 GMT -5 @misoangry said:

I was so pissed that my parents never bought me real L.A. Gear shoes.

And I know they had money.

This is irrelevant to the discussion at hand, but I still think about it sometimes.

The only Umbros I got were white, so you could see through them. I'm pretty sure they were on clearance. Relevant b/c it was also a principle-thing, not a $-issue; they just couldn't imagine paying "$14 for a pair of gym SHORTS!!" :-O

[Deleted]

May 28, 2015 18:07:42 GMT -5 miniroller said:

May 28, 2015 18:03:10 GMT -5 @misoangry said:

I was so pissed that my parents never bought me real L.A. Gear shoes.

And I know they had money.

This is irrelevant to the discussion at hand, but I still think about it sometimes.

The only Umbros I got were white, so you could see through them. I'm pretty sure they were on clearance. Relevant b/c it was also a principle-thing, not a $-issue; they just couldn't imagine paying "$14 for a pair of SHORTS!!" :-O

$14 for a pair of shorts in 2015 sounds so cheap now.  LOL.

[cville]

May 28, 2015 18:03:10 GMT -5 @misoangry said:

I was so pissed that my parents never bought me real L.A. Gear shoes.

And I know they had money.

This is irrelevant to the discussion at hand, but I still think about it sometimes.

Mine got me fake Keds. Real Keds were like $10! We weren't rich, but they could've afforded $10 shoes.

The fake ones smelled like dead fish. Damn cheap plastic.

[Deleted]

May 28, 2015 18:13:53 GMT -5 cville said:

May 28, 2015 18:03:10 GMT -5 @misoangry said:

I was so pissed that my parents never bought me real L.A. Gear shoes.

And I know they had money.

This is irrelevant to the discussion at hand, but I still think about it sometimes.

Mine got me fake Keds. Real Keds were like $10! We weren't rich, but they could've afforded $10 shoes.

The fake ones smelled like dead fish. Damn cheap plastic.

My parents got me Pro-Wings.

Pro-Wings!

WTF?!

I sound like such a brat.

But, seriously, how humiliating.  LOL.

[Deleted]

Meanwhile, Jefferson Chang got a car for his mediocre SAT score.

Ugh.

[thebreakfastclub]

May 28, 2015 18:13:53 GMT -5 cville said:

May 28, 2015 18:03:10 GMT -5 @misoangry said:

I was so pissed that my parents never bought me real L.A. Gear shoes.

And I know they had money.

This is irrelevant to the discussion at hand, but I still think about it sometimes.

Mine got me fake Keds. Real Keds were like $10! We weren't rich, but they could've afforded $10 shoes.

The fake ones smelled like dead fish. Damn cheap plastic.

I would have killed for real Keds and Guess jeans between 1988-1993. My mom got us one pair of sneakers each year, and Keds were a waste to her. I still remember the most popular girl in school having white ones and black ones. Sigh.

[Deleted]

Keds were way too narrow for my Flintstone feet.

[cville]

May 28, 2015 18:18:01 GMT -5 @misoangry said:

Meanwhile, Jefferson Chang got a car for his mediocre SAT score.

Ugh.

Amie Kingston got a fucking Cabriolet for being a National Merit Scholar. I got a hearty congratulations.



Anyway, OP, I think your idea is nice and a reward of a nice meal out and a GC for movies or something (do kids like to go to the movies?) would be sweet.

[sofamonkey]

May 28, 2015 18:16:48 GMT -5 @misoangry said:

May 28, 2015 18:13:53 GMT -5 cville said:

Mine got me fake Keds. Real Keds were like $10! We weren't rich, but they could've afforded $10 shoes.

The fake ones smelled like dead fish. Damn cheap plastic.

My parents got me Pro-Wings.

Pro-Wings!

WTF?!

I sound like such a brat.

But, seriously, how humiliating.  LOL.

I hear you.  I got Lotto brand shoes from Marshall's & made fun of like mad crazy. I think they became popular, or at least recognizable, a year or two later. 

[Kit]

May 28, 2015 14:02:15 GMT -5 @tambcat said:

May 28, 2015 13:51:46 GMT -5 @astrid said:

Honestly, I don't think I ever got a C.  I worked my ass off for a few B's in college, but never got a C. 

I did poorly in math, because I had a nutter for an Algebra 1 teacher and never grasped the basics. I kept passing, so nobody bothered to put me back in a remedial course until I started college and couldn't clep out of "math for liberal arts." I did much better in the college math classes I took.

I didn't realize the problem until then. I thought I was just bad at math.

Oh, see, I did poorly in math because...I can't math. Lol