Operation Beach Bucks part 2

You didn't ask for it, but here it is anyway - our first update!  Yay!

The first week has ended, and already I've reached a very important conclusion.  I will be broke by July.  No kidding!  The way my kids are putting in extra effort and being recognized for the good things they are doing encourages them to do more good things (i.e., things they ought to be doing anyway) which results in them earning mucho dinero mas rapido (sorry if that is in the wrong order, I'm a bit rusty on my español).  My son is earning 50¢ every time he tries a new food, and he has decided that trying new foods is not all that bad.  So far he has tried scrambled eggs, barbecue sauce, chicken nuggets, Cincinnati chilighetti, and fresh pineapple (which was his idea, in the produce section by the way - as long as he didn't have to eat "those pokey things").  My daughter could earn that much as well, but she is a much less-picky eater already, so there are not that many "new" foods for her to choose from.  Either way, they are consistently earning at least one dollar each day, and with approximately 150 more days they can earn Beach Bucks before tallying up their dizzying amounts of money, I could be out well over $300!  That ain't chump change in this house.

After having this epiphany two days ago, whilst taking our kids on a much deserved outing to see "The Nut Job," I had a second epiphany.  I can use the Beach Bucks like tokens that the kids have to trade in if they want to engage in certain activities while on vacation.  A short list of activities that we ordinarily engage in, as well as a few extra special treats thrown in, was easy to mentally compose:

1. SnoBalls
2. The Shake Shop
3. Smugglers Cove Adventure Golf
4. Egmont Key ferry from Ft. De Soto
5. Dolphin Quest on Boca Ciega Bay from John's Pass Marina

For the less expensive things that we always do at least once, the token amount will be small - maybe $10 worth of Beach Bucks for a small SnoBall or milkshake.  For bigger things the price will be more like $50 worth of Beach Bucks.  That may seem steep, but, hey, they are going to have Bucks to spare.  I'm only going to reserve $20 that they can exchange dollar-for-dollar and spend on whatever souvenir they want.  We will likely souvenir hunt at John's Pass, or if we are lucky enough to get to visit Tarpon Springs again they can spend it there.

Additionally, I may make them work harder each month to earn the coveted Beach Bucks.  For example, instead of getting 10¢ each time they clear their dishes from the table, they will get 10¢ for clearing dishes after every meal for one entire day.  If it is getting to school on time, it may be two days in a row to earn 25¢.  On second thought I may keep that one the way it is!  We don't want any tardies.

So, what format am I using?  Well, you're in luck because I am going to share my Beach Bucks chart and money.  I printed one chart and slid it into a page protector, which I taped to the wall at kid-eye-level.  Each day I use a dry erase marker to check off what they have accomplished so they can see what they are earning.  I also use a STAR stick, which I mentioned in Operation Beach Bucks.  This is because my daughter's school uses this as a behavior/classroom management tool.  I painted a paint stirrer and colored clothespins for each kid.  That way it is a constant visual reminder of how they are behaving.  Most of the time I make them move their pins so it (hopefully) makes them think about what they did that was good or not-so-good.

Beach Bucks envelopes

For the envelopes, I used what I had on hand - #10 (business size).  I simply taped one piece of each value of Beach Bucks to the front using clear packing tape.

STAR stick, start every day on GREEN

Each day you start out on GREEN.  If my kids behave they get to move up a color.  If they misbehave they move down a color.  It is not a static stick - in other words they don't get stuck on a color.  If they make it to red and then do something wonderful (or even mediocre if it is good behavior), they move back up.  If they are on purple and misbehave, they move down to blue.  If they are perfectly behaved all day (yeah, right), they get to move up to the star.  I used basic red, yellow, blue, and purple acrylic craft paint from WalMart.  The star is gold glitter glue on a silver background.  The black space is no-man's-land basically.  It is either used for nothing, or if my kids are being horrible and are on red and still misbehaving, I move them to black - which they can NOT get off of unless they exhibit some exceptional behavior.  I have been using this for a month or so now, and only once has one of them been on black.  Then again, only once have they made it to the star.  There have been plenty of days where they stay on green, though, and this momma is thrilled with an all-green day!

Please keep in mind this is only a suggestion.  You will need to tailor it to fit your lifestyle and expectations of your own children.  I printed five copies of the money so I could be sure to have enough to last for a while.  When I run out of the smaller Bucks, I will trade them in for the larger ones.  I'm not sure if you can edit the documents using the same fonts I did - mine were from a font program (Cosmi Print Perfect Fonts), and the style is called JI-Drapey.

Word Document:
Beach Bucks Pricing List

Beach Bucks Money 

PDF:
Beach Bucks Pricing List
Beach Bucks Money

Operation Beach Bucks

As most parents experience at some point, I have been stuck in a rut with my kids' misbehavior and the consequences that go along with it.  Time Out does not work for us, and spanking (while a controversial practice for some) is a short-term fix - it stops the behavior for about 10 minutes.  I want to change the way my kids behave through positive reinforcement so that I don't have to yell, threaten, take away toys, or spank bottoms.

Last week I was catching up on some reading.  My daughter was finally back in school (for 2 days) after 12 snow days since Christmas break was over, so it was just my son and me at home.  He was watching a cartoon, and I found myself with a few minutes to relax and indulge in mommy reading time.  I had a back-issue of Family Fun, so I read it cover-to-cover while the cartoon played.  One article talked about how a mom created a system of paying her kids for chores that would allow them to earn "money" to spend on souvenirs on vacation.  That set my thinking wheels in motion.

We have a family vacation coming up this summer (if my daughter isn't still in school...), and while I do not do much souvenir shopping, my kids love to bring home little trinkets.  I always balk at the idea of spending "that kind of money" on something like that, i.e. something of poor quality that is going to break before it makes it home.  I was also trying to think of what kinds of "chores" my kiddos could do that would allow them to experience success on a daily basis.  I've learned that if the reward is not immediate, at least in the beginning, my kids are not going to put in the work it takes to earn the reward.  I also had a hard time figuring out what kind of graduated payment system to use.  I didn't want to make everything worth the same amount of money and then trade in a certain number of bucks for real money.  That just seemed like trickery.

Enter Operation Beach Bucks.  I made a list of everyday type things that needed improvement (cutting back on time spent in the bathroom, etc.) and made those worth a dime, bigger daily things like bath time without complaint and getting to school on time are worth a quarter, homework/good behavior (green) all day/cleaning up toys/trying new foods are worth 50 cents, and then we get to the big things - folding laundry and putting it away/staying above "good" behavior (blue) are worth $1, staying two spots above good (purple) is worth $2, and making it to the STAR is worth a whopping $5.

Obviously this is going to have a rate of diminishing return.  I can't keep paying out lots of money every day for the next 5 months, or I would be broke just trying to exchange their Bucks for real money.  Once a month I plan to reassess which items on the list have been mastered, and they will be moved down the list of value.  Most likely they will either be worth less money, or the kids will have to do multiple consecutive days to receive the same pay.

Day 1 (yesterday) turned out grand!  The day started horrifically with yelling, arguing, and refusal of basic daily duties.  After I explained and implemented OBB, my children were transformed (for most of the day).  My daughter earned $3, my son earned $1!  Part of that was for TRYING NEW FOODS!!!!  That is a huge accomplishment for my son, less of one for my daughter.  After overhearing my mom say she wished someone besides her liked to drink buttermilk, my daughter came to the kitchen and exclaimed she wanted to try it.  I poured her a tablespoon of it into a glass, and that little booger drank it and said she loved it.  Whether she actually liked it or not remains unknown, but she said it tasted like cottage cheese, and she does love that.  She proceeded to call my mamaw (her great-grandmother) and tell her that she had tried it and liked it.  Then she tried chicken tortilla soup, which was new for her!

My son, bless his heart, is a very picky/stubborn eater.  His main dietary staples are peanut butter and jelly, Ramen noodles with cheese, oatmeal with butter/sugar/cinnamon, and fettuccine alfredo.  There are a few other things he eats when they are available, but those things are his day-to-day foods.  I didn't give him the choice in what his new food to try was, because I knew he would say "jus' nuffing."  My husband scrambled an egg, and we plated it with a small pile of shredded Mexican cheese, a tablespoon of honey barbecue sauce, and a tablespoon of ketchup.  He immediately pushed his plate away and declared he was not hungry.  I took a very small bite of his egg, to show him that I was not afraid to try his "new" food, which isn't a new one at all, just one he hasn't eaten since he was 18 months old aside from one bite he took of an egg sandwich I ate last month.  After that he tolerated his plate being in front of him.  Then he picked up his fork, and I thought, "This is it.  He's either going to take a bite or rake it all in the floor."  He had a large bowl from their play kitchen, and he said he would eat his food if it was in that bowl.  I'm sure he fully expected me to refuse to put his food in a play bowl.  Instead, I had my husband wash and dry it, and I asked my son whether he wanted all the egg or one bite in the bowl.  He said one bite, and he wanted the ketchup, too.  It took him at least 2 minutes to work up the nerve to eat that first bite.  He put it on his fork, played with it in the ketchup for a while, counted to four a few times, and then after we all hid our eyes so we couldn't watch him, he finally put the bite in his mouth, chewed, and SWALLOWED!!!  I almost cried!  No kidding, I felt tears stinging my eyes when I saw the look of joy on his face that he had tried something new and hadn't gagged or spit it out.  We all clapped and said how proud we were of him.  He ate about 3 more bites of egg dipped first in ketchup then in barbecue sauce (which is another NEW food for him), and each time he counted to 3, 4, or 5, chewed, swallowed, and beamed with pride.  Each time we clapped and told him how proud we were, this included his older sister.  After he had eaten about a fourth of the egg, he said, "I'm done."  I didn't push him to eat more, I was satisfied.  He earned that 50 cents!  I had told them that trying a new food meant they had to take one whole bite, chew it, and swallow it, or it wouldn't count.  They both more than earned the Beach Bucks for that particular task.

The other big thing that Beach Bucks has (so far) helped with is homework and practicing piano.  Day 2 and homework is done.  We haven't practiced piano, yet, but we will.  Fingers crossed that this alleviates some of the stress and frustration we all feel every day.