First let me give you just a little back story..so while the hubby was deployed (I KNOW, it seems to be a running theme) we like to count by weekends. I find the great number of days is overwhelming and somehow doesn't seem quite as bad looking at only the weekends. Also, the weekends are when his absence was noticed the most, so I tried to make it something fun to look forward to and celebrate, not something to merely count down and be sad that dad is away.
One thing we started was breakfast for dinner. That is something we just don't do when dad is home. So we would have omelets, hash browns, cereal or toast (and the cereal was our weekend cereal..the junk cereal!). The kids loved it and it was one way we got to have fun and do all the things we can't do while dad was away. So instead of being sad that we have 90 days to go until dad gets home, we say we have only 12 more weekends to have breakfast for dinner.
The other thing we started is Friday Night Movie Night..with pizza! The girls loved it and it was easy for me to just throw in a frozen pizza and be done after a crazy week.
After the hubby came home Movie Night continued (breakfast for dinner did not) and then after a rough day with the kids my husband said..."The kids don't earn anything they receive". Now the girls had their things to do, empty the dishwasher, put away any laundry I asked them to, make their beds in the morning and was TRYING to get them to keep their rooms clean, but some days I got a lot of push back. The bed making had become habit, but the clothes on the floor, stuff not in there homes hadn't yet, but I KNEW they could become habits and this is when my idea was born.
I decided to make movie tickets for the kids to earn and then turn in on Friday in order to watch the movie, to do something fun with the family. My criteria was it needed to be simple to start, simple to continue and easy for them to see. I always have these grandiose ideas that become impossible to keep up with due to the demands of raising a young family.
So first I needed to decide how much each ticket was worth. I decided on 15 minutes per ticket because if you multiply that by 7 days you get 105 minutes. Most old school Disney movies are 75 minutes ("Sleeping Beauty") and some new ones like "Toy Story 2" are 92 minutes..but others like "The Incredibles" and "Cars" are 115 minutes. I don't get too picky on the time...as long as they earned ALL their movie tickets, but if they didn't earn one..depending on the movie, they don't get to watch the whole thing. So even if they had one day where they didn't earn a ticket they could still watch a whole move, IF they pick the right movie.
Now ticket design. I decided I would make them and mount them on their door. I had thought about making a container to keep them in or hand them out, but that would end up being too hard for me to keep up with on a daily basis, you use them how you want. So on one side of the ticket would have the picture and the time value and on the back would have the day of the week. I would hang up the ticket with the day of the week showing, and as I walked by their room, after they left, I would go in and flip it over if it was acceptable. If it wasn't, I didn't flip it over, and they could see that they didn't earn a ticket that day and hopefully, get their act together. Most of the time I tell them, that it wasn't acceptable and tell them what I found wrong. I am starting to do this less and less for Jillian...she's old enough and she knows what is expected (I asked her...she does). If you look at the picture above you can see that Wednesday didn't get turned around...she didn't earn her 15 minutes that day but turned it around on Thursday.
So I went to google and did a search here for a ticket. Once I found the image I wanted I clicked on it to make it large (each picture was different so I cant tell you exactly how to do it) but once I had the large image I right clicked and saved it. Then go to word and open up a new file. I selected two columns. Next I went up to insert and selected picture from a file. Then find where you saved your ticket and keep doing this changing the shape as you go if needed. Play with it. After you have all your movie tickets on the page, I then inserted a text box, on to each ticket, where I added "15 minutes"(or how many minutes you want). (Sorry no pictures)
After you have your tickets how you want them, print them and cut them (I used zig zag scissors on the short end). Now, to find the time to go to a copier store to get them laminated. You don't have to, you could print them on card stock, but when cutting out, leave room to punch a hole (if you are going to hang like mine). So if you are having them laminated, have the copy store leave room between the tickets so that you can cut them out leaving a small margin around them and a one short end long enough to hole punch through it.
So after shopping..I mean waiting for an hour, I took home my laminated tickets and cut them out. I used a straight cut for the long sides and then I used my zig zag scissors on the short ends (again, leave one side a lot longer for the hole punch).
After cutting out the tickets I hole punched them and then found some of my small 3M hooks (I love them..I have used the heavy duty ones to hold a curtain rod in one of houses that had flat walls..no nail holes!) and just quickly put them up on the outside closet door. My kids doors slide over one another so make sure it is the one on the outside (I have made that mistake before...just wasn't thinking!) I tried my best to make it straight, but I really didn't want to pull out the level..I just wanted to get it started..it was Saturday..day one of keeping the room clean.
Before I hung the tickets on the wall (now you could do this before laminating..I will tell you why I didn't) I wrote on the back of each ticket a day of the week. The reason I left it until after is because I may change it for something else, once this skill is ingrained in the kids and I know how to remove permanent marker from dry erase boards and laminated surfaces...want to know my trick? Go here. Shhh...don't tell the kids!
Once you have this in place, you deem what is a clean room. You can make it age specific. For a three year old, have them just pull the sheets up and the comforter and make sure all their luvies are on the bed. As they start having success with each task, you can slowly start adding more. Remember that all kids are different. My five year old keeps her room cleaner than my 8 year old. Some of it has to do with amount of stuff (like a desk to keep neat) but some of it, I feel, is a result of early training. I started training (age appropriate) Jenevieve at the same time as her older sister, Jillian. As we have gone along I have added some new requisites. It has spread to their drawers.
I feel like I am teaching some life lessons that are better learned early. I think it is important that kids learn that I am not going to follow them around and pick up after them forever. Cleaning and organizing are skills that are learned. Some people are just that way...and many are not.
I have to tell you that this system has really taken the pressure off (more recently because I stepped back and stopped cleaning their room if it wasn't clean, so therefore they do it while we watch the movie). Jillian, had only earned two movie tickets (and that was by my grace). So I warned her on Sunday that her room was not acceptable and I would no longer mention it. So each day I would go in, and not be able to turn over a movie ticket. At the end of the week (by Thursday she got it when she saw all the white tickets hanging on her door and cleaned her room) she had 45 minutes. The expectation had been made but it was HER choice not to meet it. I was expecting lots of crying and screaming when the timer went off, but she didn't. She knew that she didn't earn it and I had warned her before the movie started. Now, I can't say it is always like that, but if you stick to your guns, your kids will clean their room, you will enjoy a movie together as a family and your kids will a learn a skill that will last the rest of their lives.
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