I love Charts!!

My kids don't eat. I'm really not sure how they have survived this long. Dinner time is a battle, every night. They don't want to eat, they get up, they mush their food around, or they just flat out won't eat. My kids have, at times, gone to bed without dinner. Call me mean, but I refuse to make them another meal if they won't eat what I cook. Granted, if we are having steak or fish or something spicy I will make them something different or make a side dish like mac and cheese for them IF they try ONE bite of the food but I never have and never will, make them chicken nuggets or PB&J if they 'don't like' dinner. I'm not a short order cook.

I know most times if a kid won't eat the family dinner it's because the parent makes them something else at the first whine, not the case in my house and dinner is still a battle, nightly. So I came up with a genius plan. The Clean Plate Club. If they can sit still at dinner without getting up and eat an appropriate amount of their dinner then they earn a sticker. After 5 stickers they get a small prize. (sucker, icecream, ect)

The second chart is a chore chart for my oldest. It's time she had some responsibility... Yes, at 4 1/2. She goes to school so she can have a bit of responsibility. I got this great idea from my girl, Amanda. She did it with her son. Big girl has 6 chores that she has to do daily. In the beginning I will tell her once and if it isn't done, no sticker. If she gets a sticker everyday she gets a small prize. Nothing too hard, stuff I ask her to do 15 times a day anyways. Hang her coat and bookbag up, put her plate in the sink, pick up her shoes, put clothes in the hamper, tidy up her own mess. Easy stuff. Stuff, in my opinion, a 4 1/2 year old can accomplish.

The Clean Plate Club has worked for 2 nights in a row now and so far today I've already gotten Big girl to clean up her messes around the house, so she got a sticker for that!

I LOVE Charts!!