We've been thinking a lot about our girl's growing sense of entitlement. (Yes, I know she's only 3 1/2, but we are there nonetheless.) The shocked look on her face and moans and groans that come from her little lungs if one of us tells her "no" is amazing to behold. We decided it was time to teach her more deliberately that not all in life is free. Most of the time, you have to work hard for the things you want. We want her to enjoy hard work and the sense of accomplishment one gets from working hard. We looked at a lot of ideas for chore charts and rewarding (with money) some of the work that is completed joyfully and to the best of her ability.
We decided to keep it simple and flexible. I found a chore chart made with the Cricut Chore Chart cartridge that we really liked. It is primarily pictures - so our girl would understand it. It included some "chores" that are habits we want her to develop, such as brushing teeth and cleaning up toys. It also had some pics of things we need to work on - brushing hair (without screaming) for one. We like how you can put up 5 chores a day and turn them over to reveal a star when they are completed. It's then a quick check at the end of the day to see how she did. We've decided that for each star earned, she will earn one dime. We'll just drop the dimes into a jar and count them up at the end of the week - probably Saturdays, so we know how much we are giving to church, putting in savings, and putting aside to spend. She currently has been asking for another Polly Pocket. I told her she had to do more jobs to earn it. We have a bank for her with "save" "spend" and "share" compartments and the money she earns throughout the week will be appropriately deposited.
Two stars - actually 3 at this posting - earned today - whoo hoo! Unfortunately, there was WAY too much whining and screaming about the hair brushing. No dimes for that one and it will stay up to try again tomorrow. She did clean toilets, though. What a girl :)
That's awesome! I love it!
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