The power of a star

"Idle hands are the devils playground" has so much more meaning than I ever realized. Anytime these kids are not involved in something productive they are hitting or making messes or taking toys away from one another...etc.etc. The same goes for me too though. When I am not doing something productive I'm surfing the web dreaming about all the stuff I can't afford to have or do.

 Orion is pretty easy. We are out of the toddler stage with him and he is a productive member of the family, doing his chores, helping around the house and with his little sisters & probably getting blamed for fights he didn't start in the process. He definitely has his big kid troubles now. He knows everything. And he now gets to do 5 push ups for everything he knows more about than us adults! :)

We started him with "chores" when he was 3ish +/-. Gave him a chart with small jobs to do around the house like put all shoes in shoe basket, pick up trash, really any little thing we could think of that he could do wtih a 3 yr old's attention span. We paid him good too- a quarter a job! I can't tell you how many Transformers he saved up for and bought with his own money that year.

Grace is the girl form of a rambunctious boy. She is into everything...all the time. Jumping off furniture, beating up her big brother, bossing around her little sister. She's just now two but I figured I may as well keep her idle hands busy. So I gave her - her very own chore chart. I know, I know. A two year old with chores?! She helps unload the dishwasher, puts away all the toys and dirty clothes at the end of the day, makes her bed (all with some help), and has to behave during school time. We've only been at this a week now, but day by day she gets more excited to see her gold stars lining up on her chart on the fridge.

 With the success of the chore chart climbing we made a chart for "Potty trips". This is just an example of how strong willed she is. She knows when she needs to go. We can be gone all day at someone else's home and she won't have one accident. If we are home she will strip down and go do her business in a corner rather than going to the bathroom. We've tried stickers, candy and every form of bribery or scolding...but oh those stars....We went from 5-10 accidents a day to 1 in under a week.

What on earth did parents do before the invention of the golden star sticker? It's amazing, and somewhat silly, that a child will rearrange their entire behavior for a sticker smaller than a dime. Orion knows that those stickers mean money so I understand his willingness, but Grace hasn't even made it to the end of the week for payday yet! Thank you golden star sticker inventor!