I may try the contract. DD spent all morning ranting that I didn't buy the RIGHT snacks for her to take on her field trip today.
We had an identical incident to yours with the instrument, when DD was convinced she was supposed to already know how to play her brand-new violin, even without any instruction. She was hysterical and I had to snuggle her to sleep. I wasn't feeling as nice about it as you, though, it kind of made me angry she was being so unreasonable.
Ok - contract. Our contracts have a "parent give several warnings before the contract is null for that day" kind of statement (our girls get 3 per day). That way they can screw up and then get back on track. If we don't follow the exact number of warnings, we will surely get called on it! If they don't follow the contract one day, a day gets added to the contract length. They will get their reward eventually (and these are big rewards earned over a long period of time); it just takes longer.
