A few weeks after we had the babies Marcus began to act out a lot. Tim and I found ourselves getting after him all the time and making threats like, "If you don't pick that up right now, you'll be in time out," and "If you don't stop yelling, I'm going to take away your Transformer toy," and so forth. Well, we didn't like parenting like that--not one bit. Obviously, we knew we still needed to have some discipline and rules in the house, but we just didn't like how we were being so negative all the time, so Tim came up with the Helper Chart idea. We made it during Family Night about a month or so ago and the basic idea was that Marcus could earn stickers by being a helper around the house and with the babies. Along with Marcus, we came up with some ways that Marcus could be a helper, things like listening, being nice to the babies, saying nice words, and picking up toys and clothes. We posted his Helper Chart on the wall in our kitchen at his eye level. There were still bumps along the road, but we found ourselves responding more positively, "Marcus, we need to pick up our toys so we can get a sticker," or "Remember, we need to be a helper so that we can get a sticker." We told him that when his chart was completely full we could go to Chuck E. Cheese. The kid LOVES Chuck E. Cheese. This past week or so, when his chart was almost full we would hear, "Just three more stickers and I get to go to Chuck E. Cheese!" It was precious. You should have seen his face when he put that last sticker up. On Saturday we took him to Chuck E. Cheese, had pizza, and let him go crazy with the tokens. It was wonderful and I am so proud of him.
Tuesday, April 07, 2009
The Helper Chart
A few weeks after we had the babies Marcus began to act out a lot. Tim and I found ourselves getting after him all the time and making threats like, "If you don't pick that up right now, you'll be in time out," and "If you don't stop yelling, I'm going to take away your Transformer toy," and so forth. Well, we didn't like parenting like that--not one bit. Obviously, we knew we still needed to have some discipline and rules in the house, but we just didn't like how we were being so negative all the time, so Tim came up with the Helper Chart idea. We made it during Family Night about a month or so ago and the basic idea was that Marcus could earn stickers by being a helper around the house and with the babies. Along with Marcus, we came up with some ways that Marcus could be a helper, things like listening, being nice to the babies, saying nice words, and picking up toys and clothes. We posted his Helper Chart on the wall in our kitchen at his eye level. There were still bumps along the road, but we found ourselves responding more positively, "Marcus, we need to pick up our toys so we can get a sticker," or "Remember, we need to be a helper so that we can get a sticker." We told him that when his chart was completely full we could go to Chuck E. Cheese. The kid LOVES Chuck E. Cheese. This past week or so, when his chart was almost full we would hear, "Just three more stickers and I get to go to Chuck E. Cheese!" It was precious. You should have seen his face when he put that last sticker up. On Saturday we took him to Chuck E. Cheese, had pizza, and let him go crazy with the tokens. It was wonderful and I am so proud of him.
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4 comments:
yeah!!!! way to be marcus. im glad he got to go party up at chuck e cheese....it's fun stuff
What a great idea. I love hearing things like this so I can use them later on my little guy. Thanks! You and Tim are such great parents.
That's so cute! His expression in that picture is priceless. Way to be positive. We've still never taken our kids to Chuck E. Cheese. I must be a bad mom. :) Also, your daffodils and tulips are amazing. I planted tulips for this year, but only one has bloomed so far. The others are slowly coming up, so your pictures inspire me!
Congratulations, Marcus! Looks like you have a wonderful time at Chuck E Cheese. You are a wonderful son and big brother...I love you very much!! Give your parents and brothers a BIG hug and kiss for me.
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