On the whole my boys are fantastically behaved. They don't hit, bite or swear. Their school reports have always been glowing, we can take them anywhere and know they will behave appropriately and their manners are generally brilliant.
But....
.....ah yes isn't there always a but....
.....this hasn't come easily and the number of charts, reward systems and downright bribery I've tried over the years is huge!
We've copied their school system of smiley face charts - lose a smiley face for bad behaviour and lose 5 minutes of TV time / computer time / football time as a result.
We've flipped that on it's head and given smiley faces for good behaviour - earn 10 in a week and get a treat .
We've listed out simple rules for them to follow 'brush your teeth' 'do your homework' 'be kind to your brother' and dished out ticks and crosses.....
.... you get the picture?
Well, this weekend we had one poorly boy, one emotional boy (a tricky Mecanno set sent him over the edge) and a very fed up Mummy. I uttered the words "I am a terrible mother" to myself, had a little cry and then put the kettle on and pulled myself together. I screwed up the complicated reward charts (they really were complicated!!) and decided to go back to basics.
We now have one rule in our family "Do as you are asked"
It covers all bases - teeth, getting dressed, tidying room, making bed, being kind etc etc etc and really should be easy to follow.
We have a big smiley face and a big sad face. A little bit of each gets coloured in each time they do as they are asked first time and it may only be Tuesday but the smiles are looking colourful and the frowns are so far blank!
I hope (really, really hope!!) I've hit the nail on the head and this simple approach will encourage good behaviour but I'd love to hear fellow parents ideas.
x
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