Stacey’s Mayhem Management Tip #12

The first day the kids were off track, I was literally desperate for something that would make them behave and do their chores. I remember standing at the chore magnet board I use and totally flying by the seat of my pants. I declared that they would earn “something” and the suggestions came flooding in.

Someone suggested pretend dollars. A “Mom’s store” idea was thrown out by another child. I was grasping at straws and everyone seemed to like the idea, so I went with it. And, to my surprise, it’s actually been fairly effective. There has been less fighting and more willingness to do extra chores as long as “mom bucks” can be earned.

Now, I’m not much of a reward-type mom. I expect my kids to do chores because they live here. But, desperate times call for desperate measures.

So I went to the craft store and bought fake money. The kids each got a container they could decorate that would hold their money and I bought a few items for the end of the week “Mom’s store.”

Like anything, the first week, everyone was super excited. We decided that they could earn 5 “Mom bucks” for doing their morning zone chores*. 2 “Mom bucks” for dish chores and 1 “Mom buck” for other random miscellaneous chores like taking out the trash. They also have to do their chores without whining or fighting or they won’t earn their bucks.

And the most beautiful part, they lose bucks for fighting or back-talking. It surprised me how much of a motivation this has been. They usually get a warning, but then they start losing bucks if their bad behavior continues.

The store, thus far, has consisted of mainly dollar store finds, but I’ve included some more expensive (like $5) toys that cost them 50 “Mom bucks”.

Of course, since I was planning on writing this post for today, the kids were all truly horrible yesterday and they lost more than they earned. But overall it’s been fairly successful. They love seeing what I have in my store on Saturday and it’s been interesting to see what they spend their bucks on.

Do you have a reward system in place? What has been successful or not successful in your home?

*Zone chores: I stole this a little bit from FlyLady. When the kids are off-track, they each have a section of the main floor that they have to clean every day. These chores rotate every week. It helps keep the house from being a disaster all day.