Mom Store & Outdoors

I got the idea about doing a family economy Mom Store, from Ralphie Jacobs at Simply On Purpose. Ralphie uses snacks to incentive quiet reading time for her girls.  I adapted ours for our purposes. I wanted to encourage good behavior and listening to parents. I keep track of points each child earns at the end of the day. When they have good attitudes, listen the first time, show kindness, do chores happily, etc. they earn points. If they don't listen or behave unkind, they get an X. 5 x's = one hard chore around the house (ie: mopping, scrubbing base boards etc). For every 5 points earned they get one ticket. The kids spend tickets in the Mom Store once a week. I include things that i don't normally buy from the store: chips, soda, candy, random toys, etc. We've been doing this for several months. At first, thanks to all the X's they were racking up, my house was getting very clean! But after a little bit of time, they've learned as they gain rewards or see their sibling gain rewards for being good, that they want to repeat that good behavior. Whoever gets the most points during the week, gets to shop first. I don't buy 4 of each thing, so that they learn that hard work pays off. 

Hard work = most points= first pick in the bin!

I've noticed it helps teach the kids about earning, saving, and making wise purchases. It also helps them with their math skills. I tell them how many points they earned and they do the math for how many tickets that is. They practice counting and adding as they ask how much an item is, and they add their choices together. Also, they can only buy 4 items or less per week and only one person can go through the bin at a time/their turn. They have 2 minutes to shop (because they were taking way too long at each turn in the beginning and the others were getting impatient). During the summer i added the coupons i used for last Summer's reward system. Like, stay up late with mom & dad, invite friend to kayak, sunset walk with mom & dad, pick the meal for dinner, etc. They really love the coupons and the goodies. I enjoy rewarding them and they are learning the lesson: doing the right thing feels good... or Positive choices brings positive results.

Since it was a beautiful day, we hung around outside and went Kayaking with daddy later. Summer is awesome!