Do You Bribe Your Kids???

We got a report back from school yesterday that OM has been crying/whining a good part of the day for the past two weeks. Dagwood drops him off in the morning and has left him crying every day (since the official end of school) but we were told (in the past) he always calms down.
He has recently moved up which means new teacher (whom he loves), slightly different schedule, left his best friend in the other class and SK is no longer at school with him so he doesn't see her when outside playing. All of these are factors that could play into it.
Bribing has worked in the past with staying in his big boy bed (hoping it helps with potty training-we are off and on with that) so I thought we should give it a shot with this. Last night we had a talk about how he is a big boy and big boys don't cry when Daddy drops him off at school. Big boys go to school and have a fun time but don't cry. The bribe was a "treat". No idea what this treat will be but he understands that word means a reward.
As I said goodbye to them this morning Dagwood and I joked that he would be even worse today since we had this "talk". Well, Dagwood reported that OM smiled, went to his teacher and didn't shed a tear. What?! Could it be that easy?!! I need to bribe them more often if so!
SK has always done well with knowing a reward is waiting so maybe instead of saying "bribe" which sounds like I'm being a bad mom I should say we "reward" our children. Ha! Now to see if this will hold going into next week.
Do you reward your children for good/modified behavior?