Family "chip" In

I almost drove myself off a cliff a few weeks ago, almost ran off somewhere far far away, almost dropped the kids off at a strangers doorstep only to bail - do you get the picture? The kids were DRIVING ME NUTS!!  I don't know what it was but their behavior had me going crazy - it was the worst it had been in a long time.  Hannah is in the midst of the terrible 3's and Emma is approaching tweenhood - attitude and all.  It seems like I'm always on them for something and it's draining and exhausting.  I always talk of doing more positive reinforcement, but it never lasts longer than I want.  So I finally put my words into action and we created those "buckets" shown above.  All it took was some creative thinking, a trip to the dollar store and some supplies from the craft closet, plus my supply of poker chips (hence the family "chip" in).  

Here's the lowdown:

• They earn a token for GREAT behavior.  It has to be something worth earning - helping someone out with something without being asked, coming home on green from school, using manners without suggestion consistently, doing what they're told the first time without a fit, you get the picture
• They lose a token for bad behavior.  Coming home on yellow or below, back talk, hitting or any other aggressive behavior, throwing a fit, etc.
• Their ENTIRE bucket gets emptied for lying.  

If you noticed, they each have a bucket and then there is a family bucket.  Matt and I decided we needed to spend more one on one time with the kids and I really needed some alone time with Emma to hopefully steer the attention seeking bad behavior into attention seeking good behavior.  Wednesday nights are now for our individual dates with the girls.  Matt and I will swap weeks with the girls (one week I'll go with Emma and he'll go with Hannah, the next we'll switch).  Based on how many chips they have earned throughout the week determines our "date".  A certain amount for ice cream, a certain amount for for dinner out, etc. etc. Then each of their buckets get dumped into the family bucket and once the family bucket gets full - we'll do something super spectacular as a family and since it takes a bit longer to fill that one up - it'll be bigger than usual!  

Emma has embraced the idea and tries her best to earn tokens!  Hannah doesn't fully understand the concept, but still loves getting tokens!