Live by the sticker, die by the sticker. That’s how it seems in our world — Sophie’s world — these days.

Sophie was not behaving at school last fall, so her “team” started a daily sticker chart. For now, anyway, it works like a dream. Particularly when it’s a Justin Bieber sticker she’s getting. But it’s not just at school.  Last night papers were piled on the table and I realized that more and more, we’re charting and stickering everything the kid does.

The speech therapist has a chart with stamps. The physical therapist has a chart — when all the Xs are marked, Sophie gets to pick a prize (this time, a mani-pedi). Last week the babysitter got out a jar and a bunch of bottle caps and started a reward system. So far I haven’t done it — not formally, anway, though I do offer rewards on weeks when Sophie gets all her stickers five days in a row — but I’ m not entirely against it.

The cardiologist says we shouldn’t give Sophie the ADHD medication that’s working well for others we know. So for now, it’s stickers.

I’m just wondering how long it will go on. A 15-year-old with a sticker chart? A 50-year-old? There are worse things, I guess.