- The Kids for my own 31 day challenge:)
I know I have seen a lot of blogs about a 31 day challenge to make a better blog or 31 day challenge to post 100 post. So I thought well, what if I challenged parents to getting their house back? To Make their kids better behaved and to have a more peaceful enjoyable time raising the kids.
Being a stay at home mom can be stressful and really hard work, but I know every mom has had one of them days where they think they can not take anymore! You feel like the kids are running a circus act and you are the star of their show. I have read post about kids being to spoiled and how mothers let the kids walk all over them.
Well it’s time for us mothers to ban together and take a stand right here and now on the world wide web! 🙂 Together as a united force with support every night from moms just like us we can have a great rest of the summer.
No my kids were not that bad today but they have been! I want to change that I want to see what techniques work and what ones don’t, and I want your help!
My plan is to try 31 different things so I will implement 7 new house rules on Monday! I want all of you parents to join me. So we can discuss what ones worked and what ones were just plain stupid! I want to hear all of your experiences and how you changed the techniques I give you to meet your families specific needs. I also want to hear what you have tried or what works for you.
On Monday these are the new things we are putting into effect, I would love to get all of you parents to try them with me! Please feel free to post this on your sites or share it as you wish!
1. This technique is supposed to stop them from leaving their stuff all over the house for mom to clean and learn to clean up after themselves. It’s called Mommy’s Ransom Box. You get one of the big totes from Wal-mart. 
Every time your little one leaves out a toy, you put it in your ransom box and they have to do a chore to get it back. I made my own twist on it though. I know my kids and they would let it sit forever. So I am putting a two week limit on that item in the box. If it sits in there for two weeks and they have not done what they need to get it out of the boy I will either throw it out, give it to Goodwill, or put in my yearly garage sale! This takes away the stress of threatening that you are going to throw out their toys, and i figure if they can go two weeks without it then they really don’t need it.
2. The clutter busting game. All of my kids are very competitive and will love the idea of trying to beat their brother and sisters and even mom and dad. This is how it works. You get a large basket and buy ping pong anr write all kinds of different chores on them. You give them a set time 30 min or an hour whatever you want. Whoever at the end of the allotted time has the most completed chores gets a prize. It could be money, no chores the next day, or a prize.
Clutter Busting Game using ping pong balls. Each person chooses a ball, completes the task, then chooses another one. After 30 minutes, whoever has the most balls gets a prize — like a no-chores day, or gets to pick a movie. Such a great idea!
3. The Dollar System. I went online and printed off free printable money here. This is to keep them from spending hours on the internet, games, or watching t.v. It also helps them to get stuff done, that you want them to do:)
The following are ways the children can earn $1:
Make their bed, get caught doing something nice for their brother or sister, doing what they are told, reading a book, finishing chores, walking the dog, memorizing a bile verse the list could go on and on you choose how they earn it.
The following are things they can buy for $1:
Movie night with parents, watching however many t.v. shows, playing for an allotted time online, talking on the phone, again the list could go on forever!
If they save up their dollars they have earned then you can do something more special like take them for ice cream of out to get an outfit or toy it’s all up to you 🙂 You can change the amount also like $10 dollars to go get ice cream or $3 dollars for a whole movie. That’s just some ideas, I can not wait to hear what all of you do!!
4. I don’t know about your kids, but mine whine all the time!! So I have found an idea called the Whining Jar.
The Goal is to get your kids to do stuff without whining. So you put a set amount of quarters(I think I will use nickles), and every time they whine you take money out! At the end of the week they get to keep they money in the jar. Every kids get to make their own jar and wha-la hopefully no more whining LOL!!
5. The Time-Out Jar. You need fine glitter, hot water, and clear gel tacky glue. You mix them all together and when the glitter settles to the bottom the time out is over:) For the best tutorial I have seen to make these go to the link I have in blue above The blog is Called My Crazy Blessed Life.
6. One of my favorites is the Tattle Monsters! I can not wait to do this. The kids get to have fun making them and I hopefully don’t have to hear, MOM! She is looking at me, she touched me, she has my toy, or whatever they come up with that day.
Kids write down non-emergency tattles that can wait and put them in here. At the end of the day they decide if it’s still important enough to bring to you. and then you decide what you are going to do about it:) Click here for the blog I got it from and a step by step tutorial!
7. Last but not least the one I can not wait to try called The Road Trip Clips.
This is so stupid simple I wish I would have known about this 12 yrs ago, when my oldest was born! I get so sick of saying I will turn this car around! I hate hearing them all 5 constantly fighting in the back seat, or every time I go into the gas station hearing get us something. They get the same response every time for what acting like fools LOL!! Okay back to how it works. Make One clip for each kid, if they are sweet, clip stays up, if they are not, clip comes down. Everyone with a clip on the visor gets a treat at the next stop. You could even revise is and do something for the store. Like make a clip for the shopping cart, and at the end whoever has a clip still on the cart get a treat!!
I really hope you all enjoy this and come back to see what else I have to post! I Would love to hear what my readers think and want. What problems you have with your kids that you would like to see corrected?
Well lots of work to do now before Monday to get all this started!! I will be updating every detail about how this project works!
Related articles
- Cork That Whine Get your kids to stop making ‘the most annoying sound in the world’ (theinsider.retailmenot.com)
- An App That Prompts Children to Do Their Chores (gadgetwise.blogs.nytimes.com)
- I’m A MOM…….Whats your super power? (bythetimeicounttofive.wordpress.com)
- ChoreMonster Rewards Kids for Doing Household Chores (betakit.com)
- ChoreMonster App Nudges Kids To Get Things Done (mashable.com)
What is nuturing parenting? The Approach
Wild Animal trainers LOL!!
Nurturing parenting! I think it has a nice ring to it. I know what your thinking. Oh lord another person telling me how to control my monsters lol. I am not going to tell you how to parent completely, because I have not figured it all out myself. I do have a lot to bring to the table though, because of raising my 5 kids. I learn from trial and error 99% of the time. As you all know anyone and everyone who has had a child thinks they are an expert in parenting. I definitely don’t have all the answers, but it’s always nice to have some new ideas to try when you are at Witt’s end. I have been there many times!! The best analogy I have ever heard for raising kids is they are not little adults!!! They are wild animals and you are the wild animal trainer!!! 🙂 I took that as do whatever you can to survive lol.
Everyone has a parenting approach, whether you are aware or not. Weather your approach is consistent is a whole other matter. A hit and miss approach is still even an approach. I am pretty sure I my self fell into all the categories. another approach is an inconsistent,stressed-out, to your wit’s end approach. They say you fall in to one of six approaches, and all of us parents can been classified into one of the following groups( I Personally think I fall into every group lol almost)
The “My way or the highway” Approach- no-nonsense, to the point. do what your told to do, when your told to do it! This was the way I was raised, and i think there are some things in parenting that are just not up for negotiation period.
The ” One day you will thank Me” Approach- Yep i use this one to lol. It’s the modified my way or the highway approach. I’m doing this for your own good kind of thing.
The “Hug them and cuddle them” approach- I have tried this but they ended up walking all over me. It’s definitely good to hug, cuddle and love your children, but not to an extreme. They still need discipline and guidelines to go by. Hug them and cuddle them does not mean permissiveness, or lack of defined discipline.
The “Good Book” approach- Spare the rod spoil the child. This one is not so much me. I believe in discipline and my kids have been spanked from time to time but not very often I hate spanking them, but that is just me.
The “OK” approach- We are going to go to grandma’s now. OK? we don’t throw darts at the kitty. OK? This one is like you ask your kids for compliance or good behavior. I don’t know about your house, but that isn’t happening in mine lol.
The “nurturing Parenting” approach- This is the I have newly adopted lol and it really seems to work. Along with 1-2-3-magic technique. There is discipline in this, as well as loving and caring. It is founded on seven principles…
Feelings of attachment-when children feel loved unconditionally, communication,trust, and respect naturally follow. Setting routines, holding regular family meetings, all help in understanding,and respect for children of all ages.
Empathy- ability to put your place in place of the children to understand their feelings,emotions and motives.
Nurturing oneself– MOM’S HERE IS YOUR FREE TICKET:) Taking time for yourself, and making sure your needs are met, helps you to meet the needs of your children. If you don’t get your needs met you will feel burned-out, and resentful,stressed, and just plain fed up! So find stuff you like to do and enjoy. It really has helped me:)
Gentle touch- this one I don’t do lol, my kids are to big for a message lol. There are other ways to demonstrate gentle touch but to me it’s a little weird, but then again I have not researched it.
Discipline-Setting limits, family rules, right and wrong, morals and values, respect, are all parts of discipline.
Expressing feeling- teaching appropriate ways to express their feelings. all feelings are good to express including anger,and sadness.
Expectations and self worth- Knowing what to expect of your children will help them have a positive self-worth. This just means ask your kids to do things that you know they can do, so they can Feel proud of themselves.
This is just one step of things that I have tried so far. I will write tons more as I learn more or find what has worked for our family.
Related articles
- Parenting without discipline? (mama.ie)
- What Kind of Discipline is Right for Kids? (psychologytoday.com)
- Diffusing Parenting Style Tension (bostonmamas.com)
- Parenting has changed (lfpress.com)
Mothers Humorous View!!
So every Saturday is crazy running 5 kids to different basketball games. I always have to tell myself that it’s for their own good, and it is beneficial to them throughout their adult life. Believe me I have to tell myself that a million times before I get out the door 🙂 So today I found out I AM ONE OF THOSE MOM”S!! You know one of them moms that yells from the bleachers at all of the team, saying get open, get the ball, good job, or REALLY? The benefits for the kids doing sports are great, but I am not so sure they have taken the parent benefits into consideration. I am pretty sure my blood pressure was a little high, and I was winded from yelling, and on top of yelling to the team, I had to chase my youngest kids all over the place.
There are the obvious health benefits to sports. Like cardio, and being active for extended periods of time. Everyone knows that childhood obesityis on the rise and this is one way to keep your child healthy and fit. Then there are us parents that sit our fat butts on the bleachers yelling, as if we could play any better. Yeah, maybe in High School, but I may break a hip now LOL.
Sports can also teach your kids about commitment, teamwork, and problem solving skills. I think that is all very valuable for them to learn. On the other hand why can they not do this at home. I mean, cleaning your room = teamwork, homework = commitment, problem solving = working out a fight with your brother and sister, but “no” they still haven’t figured that out yet.
Sports gives the kids a different outlet to turn to other than drinking, drugs, or smoking. Again benefits for the parents…Ummm no. Cause if your one of them mom’s that yells, after getting the kids to the game and when the games are done we are ready for a drink.
Putting kids in sports also makes them feel like they have value and are apart of something important. They know that the team needs them and they have a job to do. I have debated on putting this part in my hub, but what the heck. Parents learn valuable lessons to, the pretty mean girl in school is not so pretty anymore, but is really nice. Imagine that.
Oh yes I forgot the best part!! Scholarships, need I say more. Free ride to college that can coast you thousands. What could get better than seeing them go to the school they wanted to, and playing the sport they love? Plus that means they are out of the house!
On a more serious note, having your kids in sports is a great thing for the whole family. It really is a lot of fun, and very beneficial to the kids. They learn teamwork, discipline ,respect, confidence, and many other things. I had fun writing this, and wanted to try to put a new twist on the benefits of having your kids in sports. By the way I did not really see the pretty mean girl from school at the game!
By The Time I Count To Five... 