Bribery No Longer Works

I need to find a NEW way to motivate Brodie. It seems that I have exhausted all of the usual bribery, oops I mean, positive & token reinforcements strategies that I normally use.

Let's see what things have we tried... oh yes, the points system (kind of like fly-buys where they can exchange points for money or things of value like PC time, PS2 time, etc), stickers (too old for that now), money (I guess I don't pay enough), extra special items like movies/tv shows he likes but has not seen yet. Gosh I can't think of anything else.

I am so tired of things not working. Or should I say I am so tired of Brodie NOT working. Either Angus or I end up doing the jobs that Brodie is supposed to do. I know I shouldn't complain. Its not like these jobs are overly tiresome and hard to do, its things like drying the dishes, clear the table for dinner etc. Its just that he seems to be winning the war and getting away with not doing them.

I know I shouldn't think like that and even the psychologist said that we shouldn't think of it as a win-lose situation. I am tired of the stress of it all. To be honest with all of the health problems I have right now (see my Scratch That Darn Itch blog for details if you're interested) I don't have the energy to fight back. There are times where I just do all the jobs to save arguing. This is of course what the psychologist suggested but how on earth is this teaching Brodie to become an independent and responsible member of the family? It's showing him that if he really wants to push the issue he will get out of doing the jobs he doesn't like.

I feel like giving up.