One of the many hats I wear is a solo parent to two boys 🙂 Mornings in our house have been mayhem for quite some time, when the kids were younger I tried all sorts of tricks to get them to kindy on time, some worked some didn’t.
How we got here I really don’t know. For quite some time, somewhere along the way with moving houses, them being switched between two parents houses, holidays etc etc etc things have gone haywire and its been challenging for me to establish a routine I am happy with. I won’t lie, sometimes there a times when it all goes ok, then there are days when I feel like sitting down with a stiff whiskey at 9am after they have been dropped at school. I will say that i have been in a delusion that by the ages of 10 & 8 I did think my kids would have grown out of “this” by now but clearly that has not been the case. Asking them 5 times to put pants on and not understanding why they just can’t do that drives me completely insane, and talking with my friends I am not the only house that has this issue on a regular basis. ( I might just add before you go there that had this is WITH my ban on no TV in the mornings so its not that anyway i digress…) So,
Our morning reward chart in action
Recently we have revisited our reward chart and morning routine systems in the hope that I can have some sanity in the mornings and low and behold actually get dressed have a shower and have my own breakfast without standing over them.
One of the key parts of that has been this new reward / morning routine chart which is hindsight really isn’t rocket science but has been crucial given the disruption that we regularly have to their morning routines.  This chart one is simple it contians 4 things (which is important as I think some of my past ones have been too complicated)we actually all sat down and agreed what are the 4 things that need to be done in the morning, they come up with them and so this works for us. The design allows them for both the visuals and the words, even though my kids are well past the point of learning to read the visuals just instantly get them to know what they need to do and makes it kinda fun.
Since starting the rewards I have found are:
- it allows them their own sense of freedom and control to work out what they are going to when – I don’t really care what gets done when just as long as it’s all done by the given time.
- makes them accountable and track-able (how official). I don’t have to keep a mental tally as to who is up to which task and stops the fighting between the two as each is in there own track-able system. The rewards live in a special container which allows them to go and put their rewards on themselves so it allows me to say “Well, I will look at the chart to see what has been done” (rather than telling them what to do) or “That’s fantastic Max has done 3 tasks” which spurs my younger one to catchup if he is dragging his feet (cause they are boys and competition is inherit).
- At the end of each day we pull off the rewards and ready to start the next day which preps them mentally before the day has even started
- Ties in with another reward system we have going where they get a reward on this chart after they have completed all of the morning routine tasks and gives them a sense of achievement.
- Most importantly it has made the behaviour more consistent in a positive way and MY mornings LESS stressful.
Do you want your own chart and LESS stressful morning?
As I love to help others out and to spread the love around I am offering everyone my reward chart as a FREE Download / printable for you to use in your own house. I really would love to hear below in the comments about whether it helps you.
What you will need is:
- A printer to print out the sheet (after you download)
- A laminator and a A4 laminating sleeve.
- Velcro dots which you can buy from spotlight or you can use the sticky velcro and cut it into squares which is a bit cheaper which go onto the back of the stickers and on the chart itself.
All of the instructions are on the document when you download it, i would love to know your feedback as to whether its easy to follow.
I have created a girls version and a boys version in colour. I was thinking i can provide a black and white version if you have a child that likes to colour in as the more you can get your children involved the better. – let me know if you would like this.
[mk_icon_box title=”Download your own reward chart” text_size=”16″ font_weight=”inherit” read_more_txt=”Read More Text” read_more_url=”https://www.creativehardt.com.au/printables” icon=”moon-print” style=”simple_minimal” icon_size=”small” rounded_circle=”false” icon_location=”left” circled=”false” icon_color=”#00c8d7″ icon_circle_color=”#00c8d7″ box_blur=”false” margin=”30″]Read the printables page for more information and to download the sheet to print on your own computer. [/mk_icon_box]
Note: As you will see this chart has the favourite TV show of the moment Slugterra. My download does NOT include these pics as that in breach of copyright. But i have found them usign their favourite show a great way for getting them involved.
