Saturday, June 11, 2011

Treasure Box

So school got out this week.  Now that it's summer time, and the kids will be home ALL day, I thought it was time to implement a new positive reinforcement system to help motivate them to get along with each other.  (The first day of summer was pretty rough, haha!  The kids were pretty wired and unruly.) 

So I took them to the store with me today to pick out some special surprises for the treasure box (mostly consumable stuff- like bubbles, chapstick, treats, etc.)  They're SO thrilled about it.  And it really works!  Today was AMAZING.  The kids were SO good, haha!!

When I asked them to do their chores, (I often get complaints or sighs) they said, "YES Mommy, I'll do it right away!"  Aw, love it.  Isn't that music to every mom's ears?!  I've learned the first couple days you have to be very serious about it, and only allow a reward if they're on their best behavior.  That way they know you mean business, and you won't just dole it out at the end of the day no matter what.  And the newness can wear off over time, so you have to make sure the reward is really something that they're excited about!

I think this is so much better than the alternative of constantly criticizing, nagging, and scolding them to behave all summer.  Hopefully this system will make the summer more enjoyable for us all.

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