Wow! lots of interesting feedback. I have a chore chart for her as a reminder of the things she needs to do to be a good girl. I also have a big fishbowl. I bought 2 bags of big marshmallows. When her and her brother are good, finish their jobs, didn't fight etc. I put a marshmallow in it. The reverse it also true- when they are rotten I will take a marshmallow out. When the fish bowl is full they get a party. ("party" i.e. I make cupcakes, they invite a friend over and watch a movie)
I stole the idea from her kindergarten teacher who used cotton balls. When daughter came home I explained that things were going to be different around here. I took my lunch in her room and walked her through cleaning her room. I kept reminding her of the marshmallow and tried positive encouragement. I may have to do this for a week. Sit down and walk her through everything step by step. She didn't seem to mind losing her toys. I think in her mind it was less to clean. But when this weekend rolls around I'm sure she'll get pretty antsy for them.
Ok so there's an update!
Thanks for updating! I like the marshmallow idea. Positive encouragement hopefully works. And they say it takes 30 days to make a habit...not to be the bearer of bad news lol
ReplyDeleteI LOVE the marshmallow (somehow I can't believe that's how you spell it) idea! This sticker for each chore on the calendar isn't helping with the negative behaviors in our house...I think that fishbowl helps reinforce positive and also helps punish negative and it's a good visual. Thank you!
ReplyDeleteI love your idea! I'm needing to do something like this with my kiddos. I think tomorrow would be a great time to start. :)
ReplyDeleteLove the marshmallow idea. But don't count on her missing the toys. My son adapted, and only plays with two or three stuffed animals. Doesn't even ask about the rest of the toys.
ReplyDeleteDoes anybody know those appx 5' square by 3' tall super-heavy duty cardboard pallet things at the grocery store that they put unfrozen popsicles/watermelons/pumpkins/reduced-price items in? We got my girl spawn one of those when she was about 5 for a toybox. It took up about 1/4 of her room & she had a double bed that took up 1/2 of her room. That leaves about 1/4 of her room to make messy and, lets face it, an easy clean-up job. Who of us WOULDN'T want a huge box to toss in everything that's out of place in only ONE FOURTH of our homes? Well, she was instructed to pick up her toys. That's it. Stand in one spot, pick up what's pretty much within reach & toss it in the box. She was also given the option of daddy bagging them all up & hauling them out to the burn barrel out back. Guess which option that little shithead chose?!?! YEP! And she even Picked. Up. The. Toys. to help her daddy bag em. The 1st bag had mostly old, broken, worn-out stuff & some trash (because I married a smart man) and after filling about 4 or 5 more bags, she HELPED daddy carry the 1st bag out to the barrel and helped him set it on fire. UGH!!! The little witch. At that point, we sent her to her room to enjoy the sparse simplicity of the new decor and we put the other bags in our closet. (We're not total douchebag 'rents) Took her a few months to get em back. She's now 3 months from her 16th bday & not much has changed. Just wanted to share my story. Cheers!! \~/
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