Rewards & Consequences

I've been working on a new reward & consequence system for the children. I'm sure you moms out there know that no one system lasts forever. It was time for a change again. The children need something new & I need something simple and quick yet effective.

Using ideas from various sources I combined them & added some of my own. I typed up a list of rewards & printed them out.
Next I cut them into strips.

I folded them all up & separated them into 2 jars. One is for my boys & the other is for my two oldest girls. My youngest is not old enough yet to need a system. The reason I divided them was because some of the rewards were a better fit for my boys while others were a better fit for my girls. This is due not only to gender but for interests and even more so because of their ages. I decorated each jar & then filled them up with the rewards paper slips.

The idea is that I will be on the look-out each day to "catch them" being good, obeying, showing kindness, and doing their work. If they are "caught" then they will be given permission to draw a reward from their jar. Some rewards are points towards a big reward while others are instant. I plan to make a chart or pockets to keep track of what they have earned. (The girl's jar is a little "girlie" but they were the only stickers I had. I plan to get more age appropriate ones soon. In the meantime my girls said they didn't mind. Good sports!)

A friend of mine spoke of making "Consequence Cards". In the past we have used posters from Doorposts. This is the same type of idea. I made up my own consequences & again typed them up. After cutting them out into strips I taped them onto index cards. I outlined each card in either yellow or red. Yellow is for the minor discipline. Red is for more serious discipline or consequences. The craft sticks have extra chores glued on them. This way I can either choose a yellow card, red card or extra chore stick depending on what I think fits the offense. I like that I don't have to spend time thinking up new consequences & they will be at my finger tips. At the same time I still have a variety of choices. I made copies of several consequences as I have 5 children, 4 of whom will be using this system.

I hope to start using our new system tomorrow. If you'd like I'll update in a week or so to let you know how it is going.

Around the House

Today I had my "middlers" come up to my room to hang out and do some schoolwork. They love to lounge on my bed or floor and work on their workbooks.

After that it was downstairs so everyone could work on house chores. One big project was getting the living room play corner back in order. Bugs, Elvis & Boo sorted out the toys that needed to go back upstairs. Sweet Pea cleaned up in the kitchen and I worked on the laundry and all the downstairs vacuuming. Another project for me was continuing to work on sorting summer & winter clothes. We're in the middle of switching over now that the weather is officially cold here. Sweet Pea also picked up a lot of the stray items on the floor and put them away. It was a very productive morning.

Daily Schedule

I've been wanting a schedule for a awhile but it just wasn't possible. With showings and Open Houses happening here & there all summer, the packing & moving, traveling & then trying to get in the house and struggling with all this sickness it wasn't happening and in my opinion foolish to try. I say that b/c it would only add more stress trying to fit a schedule in when it was doomed from the word go.

So today I sat down with all the kids and we came up with a loose, bare bones schedule. I thought it would be a good place to start without overwhelming everyone. The kids were into it volunteering for specific chores. I thought you might want to see what we came up with. I'm sure we will have a more detailed schedule in the futures especially when we get involved in activities and such but this is perfect for us now. Wish us luck!

Daily Schedule:

7:00 a.m. ~ Breakfast

7:30-9:00 a.m. ~ Morning Chores

9:30 a.m. ~ Start School

12:00 p.m. ~ Break & Tidy school supplies

12:30 p.m. ~ LUNCH

1:00-1:30 p.m. ~ Clean up

1:30-2:30 p.m. ~ Play Outside or Exercise

2:40-4:30 p.m. ~ Nap Time/Schoolwork

4:30-5:00 p.m. ~ Tidy Time

Morning & Afternoon Chores:

Make Breakfast

Wash Table & Chairs

Load/Unload Dishwasher

Sweep Kitchen

Vacuum Downstairs

Make Beds

Tidy Room

Bugsy to Potty & Dress Him

Brush Bugsy's Teeth

Clean Downstairs Bathroom

Litter Boxes

Feed & Water Mama, Auntie & Kittens

Feed & Water Casey

Trash

Wipe Down Counters

Fold Blankets on Couch

I sat down with the kids & we made a basic list of chores together. Then they took turns choosing what they wanted to do. I'm sure we will switch the schedule around in the future. There are more chores that need to be done and these will be delegated as they are needed to be completed. Of course I'll have my fair share too. I'm glad to have a schedule again and would love to hear anyone else's schedules. I'm always looking for new ideas!

Tearing my Hair Out

It's one of those days with my kids. All but the youngest is driving me up a wall. What does it take to motivate them into being responsible? To do even one chore without being nagged to pieces? To sit down and stay sitting down for more than a minute to complete some written schoolwork? To stay out of what they have been told not to touch without permission? Sometimes I feel more like a drill sergeant than a mom or teacher. *big sigh* Both the girls have goals they desperately want to reach. Boo wants to "earn" a bird & S.Pea a hamster. These are big things for us to consent to. We made a deal that if they are responsible for a certain # of days than they would get these prized possessions. So far I don't think we've seen one full day from S.Pea and Boo started off with a bang on Sunday but that soon fizzled out.
What am I doing wrong? I just know I'm going to be bald before I'm 40.