Q.What do a garden trowel, binoculars, an oversized papermaking kit, spaghetti and a hammer all have in common?

A. They are all Christmas presents that I have received over the years and which still puzzle me to this day.

This year, maybe because of the recession or maybe because I’m growing old, I received a lot less presents but the ones I did receive were all really thoughtful and useful.  Thank you.

Here’s one I particularly like;

Little monster training seemed to be off to a good start (present, photo and caption: Baines)

When Frosty added point four to the list (“Wake up at a reasonable hour” – for a recap of all previous challenges checkout the sidebar to your right) I had a number of conversations about how I would keep an accurate record of this.  Some people suggested WordPress widgets, others webcamming my alarm clock.  Baines had the right idea; The Little Monster Reward Chart.

This fabulous re-usable wipe clean reward chart allows you to teach your child, through encouragement and praise, to tackle everyday family issues.  The chart can be used for daily activities, development stages, educational achievements, dealing with problem behaviour and encouraging good behaviour.  Remember to stay positive, give lots of praise and set realistic targets to turn your little monster into a little angel!

On the back of the chart is an example of how to fill it out.  A little boy named Ben Butcher has a number of tasks including “Get dressed all by myself” and “Brush my teeth at bedtime without being asked”, in the reward box he has scrawled “If I get 15 ticks in a week my best friend can come to tea and sleep over”.

Over the weekend I be writing my daily challenges on my chart and thinking up a suitable reward (check back next week for photographic evidence) but before I can do that I need to share the challenges that were added to my list while I was celebrating the new year in Birmingham.

9. Eat a new vegetable every month

Yes, you read that right.  Each month I need to eat a new vegetable.  If I run out of vegetables, and this is unlikely, Tom says I’m allowed to use a vegetable I’ve eaten before as long as I prepare it in a different way.

10. Review one artist a month

This is a challenge that Tom and John collaborated on and is somewhat involved.  Each month I need to look at two works by a particular artist, compare them and then make at least one interesting point.  The only problem is they’ve picked a different kind of artist for each month, here’s the list;

• Painter
• Sculptor
• Film Director
• Playwright
• Foreign Language Novelist
• Poet
• Dancer
• Classical Artist
• Popular Artist
• Photographer
• Website Designer
• Philosopher

Any kind of help greatly appreciated.

11. Eat breakfast daily

Breakfast is defined by John and Tom as meal before 12pm.  Expect an entry detailing my true feelings about cereal.

12. Speed blog

One minute, one post, stream of consciousness, no editing.  I will only post this on the blog if I feel it will make my life better (there’s some highly inappropriate stuff that goes on in my head).

13. Speak to one new heterosexual girl a month

I was expecting something like this to eventually show up, at least they didn’t make me go speed dating (and no you can’t suggest it, come up with something original for me to suffer through).  How I’m meant to ascertain their heterosexuality is a point I’m still unsure on.

14. Learn sign language

Met some deaf people at the new year party.  Tried to make small talk with the one phrase I thought I knew (“tea, no milk”) ended up telling them something about ploughing that apparently was quite amusing.  So, I will be looking into the British Sign Language course at the local college and at some stage video blogging a post that is entirely signed.

15. Write a letter for Amnesty International

Anyone who loiters around me long enough will eventually hear about how I make an annual donation to Amnesty.  I will probably also tell them how amazing the Universal Declaration of Human Rights is and how supporting all other charities is ultimately pointless until human rights are guaranteed.  This year I’m going to do something more proactive than watching the direct debit leave my account or reading the occasional email; this year I will be writing a letter for someone who has been unfairly imprisoned.

16. Learn to play the piano

I lack a natural sense of rhythm.  My poor hand and eye co-ordination is documented at least as far back as my year two primary school report.  The highest number of notes I’ve managed to hit in row on Guitar Hero is three.  Nonetheless, I’ve always wanted to play piano, it’s seems a classy thing to do and hopefully when I grow old I’ll be able to play it in a whiskey commercial or a jazz bar or something.  I blame Annabel for this one.

A big thank you to Tom, John, Annabel and Antonio for coming up with all these challenges and for inviting me to their new year celebrations.