The straws in a cup reward system

We are three weeks into a new reward system.

Basically it's straws in the cup for good behaviours and taking straws out for bad behaviour.

My neighbour does a similar things with pop sticks. It seems to be working for her kids, and I was willing to give it a go. This is opposed to chaos and tearing my hair out in frustration. I was taking some control back where their behaviour is concerned.

To earn a straw the girls do things like

• brushing teeth
• making their bed
• cleaning up toys
• eating all their dinner
• doing amazingly good things

The cups live on top of our fridge, with a few other things, like a sixty odd year old photo of my dear Granny,
some paint brushes and other odds and ends.

They lose straws for bad behaviour, like clobbering each other, or not doing what they are told. Or for squeezing a whole bottle of shampoo into the bath! You should have heard them howl when I took a straw out of both their cups for not picking up toys. This is when I knew, this straw thingy was a good thing.

Once they have six straws in their cup, they get a treat. It could be of their choosing, like a trip to the playground, a playdate, or an ice cream for example.

So far, they have had six straws twice. So I have taken all the straws out and replaced them with an Easter egg. Then the straw earning starts again.

Also I printed out a simple reward chart. When they earn a reward for six straws, they get to colour in a star on the reward chart. When all the stars are coloured in, they can buy a toy from the toy shop, or Kmart or wherever.

My kids really don't have that many new toys(compared to some), so I guess this is a way that we can give them more in a measured way. They get that important lesson that good things are earned and new toys don't grow on trees.

This reward system seems to be working for us right now. The key I guess, is to be consistent.