My Wife is Smokin Hot! Okay, I know that may seem a little crude, but seriously! They say that babies will smile at or around 6 weeks and we are doing every thing we can to beat that milestone. I have already ramped up my goo-ge-goo's and cookie monster voices. Every chance I can get around Brave, I am trying to do my best clown impersonation to see if I can crack that first smile.
Today we tried something new, a method to introduce currency and value tour oldest son. He has been acting up much more lately than usual. He is starting to think his own thoughts, ask "Why" and he has developed an all consuming curiosity about the nouns around him. Mix the shake up of the family tree caused by the new guy and we have a volatile situation on our hands. So we have been faced with a new challenge as parents. We could spank but that would be a bad situation for both of us considering the frequency of infraction of rules. So we got creative:
We took our son back down to the most basic levels of freedom we could, even less than Brighton to give us time do develop a reward system that is fun and life giving. He has to sleep in the crib, with the walls up, even though he can easily jump out, it is still the principle that he has less freedom than he did and he hates it.(Don't worry, we set the bar very low to getting all his normal freedoms back at just one sticker) Then each morning he is given 10 fake dollars, the reward is his right from the get go. Each time he acts up by not listening or doing something that could be harmful, he has to pay us a dollar. The goal is to have atleast one dollar at the end of the day to get a sticker - Reward system number 2, which can be cashed in once 10 are collected, for any new toy he chooses (within reason). If he ends up with atleast 5 dollars at the end of the day, he gets an extra reward, his favorite candy, free and clear without having to share. If he makes it through the end of the day with 10.... I doubt this will ever happen, but I will have to think of something really good, and affordable. Today was the first day, and he cashed out at 5p.m. The goal is 8p.m. I have to admit, this system appears to be much more affective than any spanking could be. He melts when he sees his stash and potential rewards shrinking. I will let you know how it goes tomorrow. Is it wrong to run experiments like this on your kids?
Day: 30
Diapers Used today: 13
Total Diapers used: 297
Diaper Value Today: $1.82
Total Diaper Value: $22.06
I really like the idea of cashing in for acts of disobedience. And Strong has the deepth of understanding to use this now, whereas Brooke wouldn't understand the meaning of this yet. Be happy for his understanding at an early age an though he is challenging now... he will do amazing things.
ReplyDeleteOh, and Jeanelle does look amazing!!
ReplyDeleteThat is awesome! I am going to try that with Cole, our 4 year old who thinks rules are optional right now!
ReplyDeleteHow did this work out in the end? 3 years later, are you still using this system?
ReplyDeleteI think it could work wonderfully as a temporary solution, but I'm not sure how it would work in the long term, especially if the reward is eventually withdrawn. Also I'm not sure what effect it has on the child psychologically, that their behaviour is tied to a reward/punishment system rather than making them understanding why we have to behave certain ways (which, yes, is easier said than done).