Motivated Children

My boys are old enough to start really DOING things around the house. The difficult part was finding something that would MOTIVATE them to DO something!

That is when I discovered this GREAT idea:
http://www.thebamboosprouts.com/?p=1056

This was a project not only fun for me, but GREAT for our kids.

Here is a SIMILAR idea from Creative mama: http://thecreativemama.com/chore-cards-a-diy/

So, I found another site that let you CREATE your own currency:

http://www.festisite.com/money/#0,52

Now they earn “MOM BUCKS” for their chores that they can trade in for prizes. It is an all or nothing system, do ALL the chores on the chart and get a mom buck or do nothing and get nothing. There are really only four things a day and a couple of them are just getting dressed or brushing their teeth. I wanted to make sure they felt like they could accomplish them all.

I then let the boys come up with the rewards: for example, my oldest requested he could earn two mom bucks for an extra 30 minutes of wii time.

Now many of the “chores” that I have to do on a daily basis are easier because my boys are doing chores. My oldest is in charge of gathering both laundry baskets (pop up mesh bags with handles), taking them to the basement and sorting them according to color. I have laundry baskets ready for him to sort into in the laundry room. So now, in the morning when I throw in a load of laundry, I don’t have to spend hours sorting, I just throw in a load and run back up stairs.

***Important things to think about if you are going to implement this particular job/chore into your home. I gave this job to my OLDEST because he knows what I am looking for (as far as color and what goes with what), he also knows to put things that are really dirty into a bin that I pre-treat and or soak. He is responsible enough to do this. If your children are just not there yet - never fear, growth is inevitable.

My 2-year-old daughter on the other hand . . . she LOVES to help around the house. As soon as she hears me open the dishwasher she comes running. She puts all of the kids plates, bowls and cups in the lower cabinet and she can use the dust buster around the house to pick up lost cheerios, killer dust bunnies and the various other things that come to rest on the floor after a day with four children running around. Instead of earning “mom bucks” however, she is extremely happy and content with a large marshmallow!

All in all . . . This has SERIOUSLY helped me get done what needs to get done around the house so we all can get fed, FAIRLY clean and the house doesn’t burn down.