1. Be Respectful
2. Listen the 1st time
3. Be a Peacemaker
4. Clean up after Yourself
That's it. Pretty easy, right? OR.... Yeah, right!!!! Well, with Summer vacation soon approaching Brett & I prayed and discussed our options of how to survive the Summer safely and perferably all alive. LOL!
SO as usaual, a little background info---Something that I've always believed and then it was put even more eloquently by our Prophet is that--- the real PARENT of my children is our Heavenly Father. These special kids are on loan. Well, HE has all the answers so (sometimes easier said than done) if you want to know what to do then where do you go? To HIM!
Just for reference, I went searching for that quote I mentioned. Here it is: “Never forget that these little ones are the sons and daughters of God and that yours is a custodial relationship to them, that He was a parent before you were parents and that He has not relinquished His parental rights or interest in these little ones."
There was some other great info in the talk I found. One of my other favorite quotes was: "Each parent also needs to follow this counsel from President Hinckley: “You need more than your own wisdom in rearing [your children]. You need the help of the Lord. Pray for that help and follow the inspiration which you receive”
You can read the whole thing on the Church website. It's called "Caring for the Souls fo Children" by Patricia P. Pinegar or here's the link: http://lds.org/ldsorg/v/index.jsp?hideNav=1&locale=0&sourceId=d726dbdcc370c010VgnVCM1000004d82620a____&vgnextoid=2354fccf2b7db010VgnVCM1000004d82620aRCRD
OK, so back to the real story--- Well, like I mentioned, Brett & I have been praying and discussing options. One day an idea popped in my head, we combined a few of our ideas and the results have been really awesome. I know it was inspired from our loving Heavenly Father to help His children in our home.
Without further rambling, presenting......
The Seamons Attitude Change
To reinforce our family rules and cut down on endless hours of TV and computer use, the kids now can earn "Attitude Change" to pay to watch TV, movies, play the Wii or play computer games. They also can earn Attitude Change for reading or doing homework or memorizing scriptures or Church songs.
First, I found these awesome colored coins at Hobby Lobby. They even say Jesus Loves Me on them. Just an added bonus for a teaching moment. A happy, peaceful family makes Jesus happy as well. Yeah for little coincidences.
Next, we set up a Point system. Different colored coins equal different amounts of minutes. It's cute because the kids like to focus on getting blue coins because they can count them easier. AND a blue coin (worth 30 minutes) usually means a cartoon or a good amount of time for the Wii. As another little bonus, they are also learning how to add. They like to add their smaller coins and exchange them for the greens and blues. Too cute!!! They are figuring that to watch their shows for Saturday morning cartoons, they need 6 blue coins a piece. They so make me laugh. {They were trying to work it out so that Justice paid for Sonic and Liberty paid for TMNT but sorry guys. You watch, you pay!!!! LOL! We did however, set up the rule that if you are watching someone play the Wii or the Computer, you can pay half of what they paid to play to just watch them. I know changes will come up along the way but we'll see how it all works}
Finally, the Attitude change banks. I found these containers at the Dollar store. They have screw top lids which the kids can open themselves but also keep the change safe and divided. A little Microsoft Word magic and Whoala!! We're on our way to better Atitudes and a happier home.
The kids have really taken off with it. We have talked lots about what our rules mean and you can tell they have listened. For example, I will tell everyone, "get your shoes on". They all run, get their shoes on and run back to say, "I listened the 1st time, can I get a coin?" OR "Mom, can you please help me with this?--Followed by "I talked respectfully, can I have a coin?" OR "Mom, I put my wrapper in the trash and my clothes in the hamper, can I get 2 coins?" We LOVE it!!!! Now it's just about keeping up the excitement. But yeah for inspiration. Thank you, Heavenly Father!!!
(Glory was asleep when I took this picture but she's doing it as well. Obviously, we have to adjust the rules slightly for her but we are trying to help her follow the rules and earn change. She needs her daily Dora, don't ya know!! LOL)
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