We have a little issue with bedtime. We put Gabe to bed in his own room, but when we come upstairs to go to bed, he seems to have found his way into our room. So, every night we move him back to his own bed. If Greg's out of town on a trip, I'll let him sleep with me since I'm a hard sleeper. I'm always afraid I won't hear him if he wakes up or something. Greg was gone the other night and I came upstairs and found him like this! I had to laugh and roll my eyes. He was lying across the entire bed.
It's been nearly 3 months that I have been a stay at home mom due to my seasonal job. I have to say, I'm getting a little stir crazy. I need to work some outside of the home, just to get out a bit - to interact with people, have a little "me" time where I'm not wondering what the heck my child is getting into! Don't get me wrong... the first 3 weeks were great. I was Super Mom... We did something new every day, creative and fun things, and we had a blast! After that first three weeks though, holy cow... creativity was hard to find. I have a kiddo that needs to be busy all the time, or he will find something to do on his own that usually involves orneriness. Example? Pumping all of our foap (foam soap) out into the sink. Or, a Cocoa Pebbles parade (parade meaning throwing things into the air like confetti)...yeah, I taught him what a parade was. Ugh.
As a way to get Gabe to start helping out with some chores, I made this chore chart. He's done really well with it! The chart is set up for a week. He gets a dime/quarter/whatever loose change we have for every chore he completes on the chart. If he doesn't complete the chore for that day, he gets a little frown face. For every frown face, a dime goes into the frown jar. And, every time he sasses his parents or misbehaves, money from the allowance jar goes into the frown jar. I had to put a dime in the frown jar yesterday because he got mad and stuck his tongue out at me. :) It was very effective though! After his allowance jar is filled with dimes, quarters, etc... he gets to take it to the bank, cash it in, and go to the store that same day. It really seems to be working well! I'm so glad. It seemed like every punishment we set up, he didn't really think was a big deal. And, see the check marks on the chart? How cute are those? Gabe likes to do them all by himself. I got the dry erase idea from Pinterest and I love it. We can use the same chart every week and just erase it clean for the next week.
I LOVE my son and enjoy him so much. But, lately I feel like all I've been saying is, "Gabe, why would you DO that?" Like when I caught him taking pieces of my wicker hamper apart. Or, "No, you can't chase Jinxi with a sword!" (for my sanity! Trust me - a 5 year old yelling and running with a sword and a dog continuously barking is about enough to make you lose your mind!) So, there's no preschool today and I've gotta find something for us to do.
As a way to get Gabe to start helping out with some chores, I made this chore chart. He's done really well with it! The chart is set up for a week. He gets a dime/quarter/whatever loose change we have for every chore he completes on the chart. If he doesn't complete the chore for that day, he gets a little frown face. For every frown face, a dime goes into the frown jar. And, every time he sasses his parents or misbehaves, money from the allowance jar goes into the frown jar. I had to put a dime in the frown jar yesterday because he got mad and stuck his tongue out at me. :) It was very effective though! After his allowance jar is filled with dimes, quarters, etc... he gets to take it to the bank, cash it in, and go to the store that same day. It really seems to be working well! I'm so glad. It seemed like every punishment we set up, he didn't really think was a big deal. And, see the check marks on the chart? How cute are those? Gabe likes to do them all by himself. I got the dry erase idea from Pinterest and I love it. We can use the same chart every week and just erase it clean for the next week.
I love it! That little frown-y jar is adorable, even though it means trouble :) Also, I can just picture the Coco Pebbles parade...! I hear ya about the stir-crazy, too!
ReplyDeleteThanks, Sarah! The parade was a really funny instance where I had to try not to laugh, but still, I had to have him clean it up. Right now, as I type, there are about 20 balloons blown up in my living room and he has pushed chairs from the kitchen and dining room to keep Jinx out. If we move them, we get in trouble. The things this kid comes up with! :)
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