i had quite a few requests to explain more about mom bucks from my post yesterday so i thought go ahead and do that before i completely forget. haha, we moms do that often. :) we use mom backs as an alternative to allowance and rewards in our house. they are hand made by me, in ones and fives, on bright and colorful paper. the kids can earn mom bucks from doing their regular chores but can also earn extra bucks several other ways. for example... helping mama with things like grocery shopping or making dinner, playing nicely together outside for the afternoon, giving up electronics for the day, helping with the baby, etc. i keep a few mom bucks in my wallet too so they can be earned while were out and about.
they can use their mom bucks towards privileges like extra tv time or an extra story at bedtime. they can also use them for activities like a trip to jamba juice or the movie theater. they can save up their bucks and use them like real money at the book store or the toy store. (one mom buck = $1.) they pay me at the register and i pay the clerk. any change that's left over goes into their piggy banks. it's a pretty simple system and let me tell you..."it works!" the kids LOVE earning mom bucks and they are so much more helpful than they were before we started using them. we've tried everything in the past. reward stickers, chore charts, privilege jar, you name it. those other methods worked for a short while and then started to fizzle out over time. it used to be like p-u-l-l-i-n-g teeth to get these kids to lift a finger around here, but now that we've introduced a fun, easy and uncomplicated, game-like way to reward them for things, they are quite the little helpers. just this weekend they were fighting over which one of them got to clean the downstairs bathroom. ummm... really?
it's a great way to teach your kids the value of exchange and responsibility as well as teaching them about money. the idea for mom bucks actually came from julian. one day he mentioned it (i think he read it in one of his wimpy kid books) and so i decided to create my own reward system based on the concept. pretty good stuff. you should give it a try. you can start young too. there's no reason why a toddler can't start earning colorful mom bucks for privileges and treats... and it's a great way to practice counting.
xo.
