Keep Home Simple: Uh Oh and Good Job

I am blessed with some really great kids.

I think, for the most part, they just came that way.

But at times, they can use a little extra training.

A couple of weeks ago I found the idea of THIS "uh-oh" jar on pinterest posted by Hilary at Happiness Is...

Basically, if a rule is broken, or someone is whining too much, they get an "uh-oh", which is an extra chore to do.

I didn't have any extra cute jars laying around my house, but I did have some extra pails that I got from Target's dollar section last year.

So I paired the pails with some alphabet vinyl I bought at Target last week (found by the poster boards in the stationary dept.), and put my own "Uh-Oh" system into place.

Now when one of my children disobeys, I have to ask them to do something more than once, or they treat someone unkindly, etc., they pick a slip of paper out of the Uh-oh pail.

Some of these chores include:

Vacuuming the living room.

Wiping down baseboards.

Wiping down cabinets in the kitchen.

Dusting a room in the house.

Pulling a bag of weeds from the backyard.

Cleaning a toilet.

Cleaning mirrors.

Etc.

The system is working great so far! It's gotten to the point where all I have to say is, "Do you need an 'Uh-Oh'?" And nine times out of ten they start doing what they are supposed to.

Along with the "Uh-Oh" pail, we also have a "Good Job" pail because I think it's very important to recognize good behavior too. If I catch one of my children doing something kind for someone in our family or being extra thoughtful to try and help me out around the house, we let them pick a slip of paper from the "Good Job" pail.

Some of the things in here include:

A Quarter (they are all working hard to save for a special toy right now).

A piece of gum/candy.

A small little toy (i.e. a bouncy ball).

They get to stay up at night 15 minutes later than the other kids.

They get their back tickled for 10 minutes.

Etc.