So the summer holidays are here at last! Yay! It such a good feeling when the kids break up from school, there is such a feeling of anticipation. All those fun-filled summer days stretching ahead, the sunshine, the days out, the laughter and games, the FUN........of course the reality is, that so far the weather has been drizzly, the kids are tired, cantankerous & getting on each other’s nerves, and there is still the shopping, cooking and cleaning to be done. However, it is wonderful to no longer be tied with such inflexible chains to the routine of school and playgroup runs. I no longer leap out of bed shouting “Will you please get dressed and go down for breakfast?.....get your shoes on....clean your teeth....where’s your school bag?....have you read your reading book?....everybody to the door.......NOW!!” I do really love having the kids home for the holidays, they are great fun! Even though I no longer get any ‘child free’ time and even when they get on my nerves – they still manage to make me laugh many times a day and I want the holidays to last as long as possible.
We have started a token reward system, in an attempt to encourage good behaviour and a bit of help around the house – it was beginning to get me down that the kids seemed to leave a trail of toys and bits and pieces behind wherever they go.... moving merrily on to their next task... blissfully oblivious to the trail of devastation left in their wake. So they get one token (made on the computer and laminated – we mean business here!!) for good behaviour, such as getting themselves dressed, tidying up their game after themselves, laying the table for tea, playing nicely together. They can then use the tokens in exchange for treats, such as a sticker, sweets, a lolly, football cards, an ice-cream, being taken swimming, going to the park!! (Please note – tokens will be taken away for bad behaviour, such as hitting or fighting!!) So far, so good! They have tidied up after themselves today, played (relatively) nicely together and helped me out with a few little tasks (such as getting the recycling boxes back in after they’d been emptied) Yesterday, Abbie (in particular) was in it for the instant gratification, each time she has got two tokens she duly came and collected a sweet, paying with her tokens! Today, she seems to be looking ahead a bit more and she is saving up to be taken swimming (15 tokens), although she did ask if her and Millie can put some of their tokens together to make 15 and both getting taken swimming together!! (umm, good thinking!!)
The thing they haven’t worked out yet (phew), is that the activities are things that we would be doing anyway over the summer (like going to the park or going swimming) but still, if I can get a bit of good behaviour and incentive to tidy up after themselves out of this, then I’ll stick with letting them ‘earn’ their treats!! The only problem with this system is I know the novelty will wear off.....maybe by then; they’ll all be so well behaved and so used to tidying up after themselves that we’ll no longer need the tokens! (ha – some chance!)
Hannah asked me today if I could get her ‘the end of the world’ - apparently it’s blue and outside somewhere!! I was wondering what made her say that until I caught myself soothing her after she’d lost her sticker, “Don’t worry Hannah; it’s not the end of the world! We can get another one!” So I realised that I often tell her that things are NOT the end of the world, sometime, I’ll have to get her to show me this blue thing outside that is the end of the world!!
We have started a token reward system, in an attempt to encourage good behaviour and a bit of help around the house – it was beginning to get me down that the kids seemed to leave a trail of toys and bits and pieces behind wherever they go.... moving merrily on to their next task... blissfully oblivious to the trail of devastation left in their wake. So they get one token (made on the computer and laminated – we mean business here!!) for good behaviour, such as getting themselves dressed, tidying up their game after themselves, laying the table for tea, playing nicely together. They can then use the tokens in exchange for treats, such as a sticker, sweets, a lolly, football cards, an ice-cream, being taken swimming, going to the park!! (Please note – tokens will be taken away for bad behaviour, such as hitting or fighting!!) So far, so good! They have tidied up after themselves today, played (relatively) nicely together and helped me out with a few little tasks (such as getting the recycling boxes back in after they’d been emptied) Yesterday, Abbie (in particular) was in it for the instant gratification, each time she has got two tokens she duly came and collected a sweet, paying with her tokens! Today, she seems to be looking ahead a bit more and she is saving up to be taken swimming (15 tokens), although she did ask if her and Millie can put some of their tokens together to make 15 and both getting taken swimming together!! (umm, good thinking!!)
The thing they haven’t worked out yet (phew), is that the activities are things that we would be doing anyway over the summer (like going to the park or going swimming) but still, if I can get a bit of good behaviour and incentive to tidy up after themselves out of this, then I’ll stick with letting them ‘earn’ their treats!! The only problem with this system is I know the novelty will wear off.....maybe by then; they’ll all be so well behaved and so used to tidying up after themselves that we’ll no longer need the tokens! (ha – some chance!)
Hannah asked me today if I could get her ‘the end of the world’ - apparently it’s blue and outside somewhere!! I was wondering what made her say that until I caught myself soothing her after she’d lost her sticker, “Don’t worry Hannah; it’s not the end of the world! We can get another one!” So I realised that I often tell her that things are NOT the end of the world, sometime, I’ll have to get her to show me this blue thing outside that is the end of the world!!
