The Dire Days of the Dragon Mom

The system is set up where each child has a wooden board with “reminder cards” hanging on it for their various chores for the morning, afternoon and evening.  As they do each chore in a group, they turn it over and go on to the next item.  When they finish one section of chores (say their AM chores), they come to me to check on their work and ask for a “ticket” which allows them privileges (I choose and list these out for them and they can use their tickets later).  As you progress through the system, the kids will begin to earn “bonus bucks” for completing extra assigned chores, which are then redeemed for money or prizes.  They can also earn special dates with mom or dad (these don’t have to be expensive outings!), which further motivate the children to do the chores without the parent having to yell or remind!  There are also “best behavior” cards that the children can earn for showing a particular trait that you want them to work on (like listening or not whining). 

 

For my two children, DS, 11 and DD, 8, we have had successes and failures.  Of course, the failures were at least partly the fault of the parents!  We took too long to decorate and hang up the boards for one.  This didn’t create the momentum I would have liked.  DD was very excited the first day we used the boards & tickets, and got up early to do her chores, but unfortunately, the “fun factor” wore off more quickly than I could have imagined and by the next day, she “forgot” to use her board!!!     My distractible son, on the other hand, took to the system right away, and continues to rack up tickets every day!  Because we are still working on having DD complete her chores without reminding, the only other part of the system we’ve implemented so far is the bonus bucks cards (and even that’s sporadic because of our oversight!).  We never moved on to the other aspects of the system such as the best behavior cards and date cards, which again, by my own admission is our fault!

 

The overall rating I give the system is a 4 out of 5 because of the fact that the system HAS lessened the yelling in our home, which was one of my main goals!    We are still using the system, and plan to ”re-launch” it when we start school again this fall!  Hopefully, with a more structured schedule, we will be able to implement the entire system!  My best advice is that if you, as a parent, are forgetful or not willing to invest a small amount of time to keep track of this system, it won’t work as well as it could!

 

Please check out the Accountable Kids program for yourself and get ALL of the details!  (I originally tried to look at the website and put a system together on my own, but take my word for it – get the system!!!)