You may be one of those parents who is saying
"Ummm...No they need to get up"
or you may be the parent that gets up an extra hour early to start dragging people out of bed.
Either way, I think I have tried every way I can to make life easy in the morning with no success yet.
However I am hopeful that my new plan may change that!
First of all, these kids are not up late running around the neighborhood, watching tv or playing video games.
They come home, work on their homework, take a break for dinner and bath, finish up any homework and then head to bed.
Usually that is between 7:30 and 8:30pm.
Then to fall asleep, 2 out of 3 require a melatonin sleep aid.
But nighttime, full of its own stresses, is not too bad.
It is the morning that is so very rough.
I have to start around 5:30am waking them up for two reasons:
#1 we only have 1 bathroom, so with 4 of us that can get a little hectic
#2 they are in the before school day care program, so I need to drop them off and then I go to work.
It is extremely hard for Hayden and Zev to get up and we have battled for years now.
Once they get up they cannot focus and stay on the task of getting ready.
So since I have tried everything with no success, I have decided to pay them!
That's right, pay my kids to get up and get ready.
So the new plan is, every day that you are done before me you get a quarter.
You could add $1.25 a week to your Saturday chore paycheck if you made it all week.
HOWEVER, if you are not done before me, then you have to pay me a quarter!!!
SO now your saying "Hmmm... that sounds good !" I know right!
We started yesterday, I paid out .50 and took in .25 then today the same.
It is Christmas time and they are wanting money to buy gifts and things so this was a great time to start.
I am extremely hopeful that this will work.
Maybe your kids wont budge for a quarter but mine will, they have learned how fast quarters can add up and turn into dollars.
They have a chart here where they can earn lots of quarters by doing laundry, washing dishes, bringing home an A or B on quizzes or tests, taking out the garbage etc..
Last week, Tavey earned $7.25, Hay got $5.50 while Zev raked in $3
I truly appreciate their help in keeping "our" house up and being responsible.
If it doesnt work after 2 weeks that's just ok too. I will keep trying till it does.
In all work there is profit
Proverbs 14:23
Love it! You're the Mom, you know what works for your family! I am for whatever we feel led will encourage them to do good. I started the money for chores. Some say don't pay them to do what they are suppose to do anyway but it helped motivate mine and do their best. And this way they have to earn the money they want to buy things with. It eliminates me buying them those items they just "have to have". Now they work for it and learn how to save and "GIVE". Love you sweet Momma! Keep up the great work! Oh and one more thing. Gabe is better with the Melatonin now. It had to be the artificial flavoring in the chewable kind. And he is ard to get up in the morning too! Love you!
ReplyDeleteWhatever works is my motto! Kayla was griping about her chores, so I started giving her a small allowance tied to her regular chores, with the ability to earn extra for doing extra.
ReplyDeleteI never thought to pay for grades, but already decided next summer I will be paying for books read! I came up with that one too late to implement this past summer.
One of my friends uses a website that assigns 'experience points' for household duties that her kids compete with each other to see who earns more, and then they can redeem their points for various things. Sounds complicated to me, but it works for them.