Thinking on Your Feet as a Parent

Being a parent is very much a think on your feet type of job. Plus ever changing. I often say that as a mom, I definitely have to think outside the box for solutions. Every. Single. Day.

We've struggled (as all parents do) with teaching our kids to do their chores and to have some value for money. So we've attempted many different types of chore charts and awards.  We've done the check-off-the-box ones for a bit, with me printing different themes every week.  Some of the chores are super basic, like picking up their clothes and putting them in the hamper after a shower.  Or busing their dinner spots after they're done eating.  We even have a 'five minute clean-up' which involves putting away things in order to earn dinner.

Some things work, some don't, and some work only for a little bit.

We've also given out tickets—up to three a day—with the number of tickets earned determining a weekly allowance amount.  The problem is I'm a shopper.  Just like the rest of my family.  (Sorry, mom and dad, but it's true!) So I like getting little things for my girls, though we often have them using their birthday/Christmas money to purchase things too. So while they like getting allowance money, they didn't focus as much after a few weeks.

My newest trial? The girls are earning money toward our summer travels. For little things like listening and getting ready on time, they can earn stickers (or slash marks) and once they earn twenty of them, they get $5 to spend.  It's a little bit, but all the little things add up to working on our behavior.  I hope.

Lastly, I remember my first trip to Europe when I was 13 years old.  It was a whirlwind trip with the five of us, my Lola, and two of my cousins.  The thing I kept thinking about this week?  Whatever happened to all those lovely silver rings from Portugal that my parents let me buy?!  The one I recall the most had a lion-type face to it and I'd love to hand that one down to Little Lion.  I'm pretty sure my parents said yes to most of those trinkets I wanted to buy too.  Yet, my sisters and I still have a good sense of financial responsibility because they taught us that at the same time.

I'm wondering what my little ones will remember from our trip this summer. I hope they recall a happy, loving time for years to come.

Some may say that parenting is a thankless job.  And it is....unless you know where to look for the gratitude.

P.S. Thank you, Mom and Dad, for all your heart from the bottom of my heart.<3