No Bummer Summer!

First, let me apologize for the mental breakdown this weekend. Combine stress with PMS and that's the result.

And when you combine kids that are misbehaving and extra hyper, that was basically my day today.

So, by this evening, I was reminded of some blogs that I love and their summer lists/projects/crafts. So, I took that and gave it a twist. And we created Isa's Summer Bucket List...which has been named the No Bummer Summer list.



Many of these items, as you can see have a price attached to them. These are the costs that Isa has to pay in, what she has acutely named, "Mom Bucks." We have a second document that has the process to earn (or lose) money.

There is always the addition that needs to be remembered that Mom and Dad can add payment or fines at any time. For example, I was running around crazy this evening and told her that she would earn a dollar if she helped me find something I needed to leave. She found it. And she earned a dollar.

The dollars are actual tangible slips of paper. The one dollar bill has a cartoon of her mama on it. The five dollar bill has a cartoon of her dad.

I fully intend to make her a "wallet" out of duct tape. Hehe. But until then, she has found a metal pencil holder that I used to have on a desk somewhere to hold her dollars. Today, since implementing this project, she has earned $14. She also lost $2 for being mouthy. Overall though, it shows great potential. She had better dinner behavior than we have seen in months. She helped clear the table and do dishes. She helped clean up the living room and throw laundry downstairs. It will also be a great way to keep her working on her math skills throughout the summer.

Do you have any type of system in place like this at your home? What have you found that works? What doesn't work? What do we need to be careful of?