Weekly Gratitude...

Marbles. This might seems odd, but it's something I am grateful for. Several months ago I read an article about chores and getting kids to do them... it talked about how most parents couldn't keep up with chore charts... who did what... and the bickering that chores brought. Each parent in the article had their own solutions... but one mother stood out... she used marbles in a jar. Along with the normal list of chores... she made a list of what each chore was worth. As a reward at the end of the month whoever had the most marbles in their jar would win time with mom or dad plus a special surprise. The surprise could be anything from a new toy... to going to the movies... to a picnic lunch... but the surprise was left up to mom and dad. Now granted she had more than one child... so she did it as a race... and now the only fighting going on now, was fighting to do the chores. Oh and if anyone misbehaved... she took marbles out!!!

So after reading this... I knew it was the chore solution for me. I've seen the chore charts for years on refrigerators of family and friends and it just never seemed to work for them... plus really didn't appeal to me. But I needed something to motivate Rainee to help... she just wanted to play... plus she has a tendency to whine when things don't go her way... and I needed stop this.

That same day I went to the garage for mason jars and marbles... I made my list of things and what each were worth then I sat down with Rainee. Since that first day, she has been excited about doing things. She has taken over feeding Champ... helps with dishes... picks up her toys and (most days) makes her bed... PLUS... she's whining less, because marbles have come out... this has hurt her more than anything I've done in the past to get her to stop whining. Granted there are still days she doesn't want to do anything... but she still does because she wants those marbles!!! Honestly it's been amazing!!! She gets excited to see her jar fill up and can't wait for the day she gets her surprise.... it's been W-O-N-D-E-R-F-U-L!!!! Marbles who knew???? Who would have thought a jar of marbles would be something I'd be grateful for but I AM!!!