Positive Motivation Idea For Kids

In an effort to discipline, I had been taking things away from my little ones so often that I felt like I was more of a tyrant than a parent. I mentioned this to a friend who had great feedback.

Marbles.

The idea is to show them what behavior is good and guide them to choose it.

Each time they do something that you would like to reinforce, tell them "Wow, great job Jimmy! You earned a marble!" Then, let them see you put a marble in their special cup. (Each child should have a cup with their name on it)

Go to the dollar store or target dollar spot and let them pick out 5-10 items. These items go directly into a treasure box/bag that is put away. Inform the children that the items in the bag are off limits.

When the child earns 10 marbles, they can cash in the marbles for a treasure from the bag and this part is important. Make it a big deal that they earned TEN MARBLES! WOW! and let them know how proud you are of them.

In order to get them in the groove, give them a marble for almost anything. You will be amazed at the things they will do to earn a marble. Remember they need to earn 10 marbles to get a dollar treat. Don't be too stingy with the marbles, or they will loose motivation. Later, you can say things like "Thank you for brushing your teeth, but that is something you should be doing everyday to ensure your teeth stay in your mouth". There is a balance to find of course, but I am sure you can do it if we could.

My children are going out of their way to help each other out. I only let them cash in marbles when they both have 10 together. My son has been earning a little more than my daughter so he has offered her some of his so they can reach the reward together. At this, he gets a bonus marble and they both reap the reward of a treasure. When my daughter cries or carries on simply because she has to go to bed, I say "It was unfortunate that you chose to carry on because you could've earned a marble for doing what Mama says the first time. Maybe tomorrow you can try again." This concept works wonderfully for teaching them to do things the first time I ask. Always a learning curve, but they are starting to get it.

I was thinking of other ways to use marbles too.

How about around Christmas time or birthdays when we have to give away toys that aren't played with anymore... we can do 1 marble for each toy you give away! We have yet to see how that turns out.

Nail Polish on Carpet... How to clean it.

Imagine this... You walk into your closet with the lights off, and feel something crunchy under your toes... ughughuguuu.. whatever could it be? A broken toy? or maybe a... bah... what is it!? You turn on the lights to find it is dry nail polish and ...... in such a nice design.

After coming up with a brilliant "Bill Cosby" plan to paint my son's nails and have him show them off to his friends since he likes nail polish so much... or have him use his allowance to pay for a needed pedicure for myself.. I realized that he is only 3 and my husband would NOT see the creative discipline behind my nail painting plan on his Son, and the sweet little man doesn't get an allowance at his young age.

Bah. I decided to just figure out how to get the nail polish out and make him help. I did an Google search and found what not to do, then I remembered I had carpets cleaned way back and the guy told me his "secret ingredient" was ammonia. I went down and read the ammonia bottle, and it offered a "rugs" solution of 2 cups of ammonia to 1 gallon of warm water. I got my scrub brush out, added the solution to a spray bottle, and went to work.- A word of caution please: Ammonia is extremely dangerous especially for little ones, and when cleaning the carpet you want to try an inconspicuous spot first.

With gloves, (and my eyes steadily on him) we went to work on the carpet. After a few rounds, and some elbow grease..... Boom.

Although a new rug would've been a nice addition to our home, this is much more economical, and I am feeling pretty pleased with the "solution".

Chore List

Crazy clean Saturdays, make for a crazy me.

When my chores are split up with a little to do each day, (even 15 minutes worth) Saturdays don't hit as hard. Here is the current(ever-changing) chore list posted on my refridgerator and a step by step approach to making it your own.

Daily
 Make bed
 Clean bedroom/bathroom
 Clean countertops (kitchen)
 Sweep kitchen floor
 Start coffee
 Wash and put away dishes
Monday
 extra option
Tuesday
 Toilets sinks counters in bathrooms
 Laundry 1light/1dark
 Vacuum Downstairs
Wednesday
 extra option
Thursday
 Laundry sheets/towels/robes
 Vacuum Upstairs
Friday
 Dust/Disinfect
 Laundry 1light/1dark
Saturday
 Clean kitchen/bathroom floors
 Meal plan for week
 Grocery store
 Clean patio
 Laundry
Extra options
 Clean refrigerator
 Organize a closet
 Pantry
 Clear kitchen basket
Wipe Floor Boards Up
Wipe Floor Boards Down


Write or type out an inventory of what is cleaned in your home weekly.
***Tip-Mentally walk through each room in your home.

Separate the items on the list that you want to do daily(ie. after each meal, upon waking, or prior to bed). Put these items into your daily section at the top of your Chore List.

Assign each chore in the list to a different day of the week. Not everyday must have chores listed. You may find you will have one or two days off.

Think about the different events you have that may interfere with your match (If you have an exceptionally busy day every Tuesday, don't match Tuesday with a chore that may run over such as cleaning the bathrooms)

Try to separate the chore assignments that you are not overwhelmed on any particular day.

Use Extra Options for light cleaning or to keep up a variety in your routine.

Mondays for me tend to be the 'Go Get Em day' of my week. Hearing machines run like the washer makes me feel productive.

For you, feeling productive may just be adding a completion check mark to your newly created list.

Happy Cleaning!