The chore chart

For about the last month, Ethan has had a chore chart which allows him to earn sticker stars over the course of the week. At the end of the week, he earns $5 if he's earned 20 stars. So far, he hasn't earned more or less than this (he really gets his nose to the grindstone the last couple days of the week!), but if he does, I'll add or deduct a dollar for every 5 stars.

This has been a surprisingly effective tool. He's typically eager to help anyway, and now he's motivated by those little stars. Children naturally want to participate in real, "grown-up" activities, like cooking or wiping, so why not utilize this? At times, I really need to engage him in an activity, focus his energy on SOMETHING, ANYTHING. After all, the kid is with me nearly 24/7. The Montessori philosophy says that it's about the process, not the product, but I do push for quality in as far as it's possible.

Chores started with Ethan's desire to be responsible for feeding the dogs. He also regularly likes to help with basic cooking activities like mixing, breaking eggs, pouring, and measuring. These, along with wiping tables, and picking up (which must go above and beyond me screaming to pick junk up off the floor) were his original chores, along with a category called "other" in the event that I came up with more things. Since then, we've expanded to add emptying small garbage cans, watering plants (which is actually more of a chore for me since I have to lift him to most of the plants in the house), helping unload the dishwasher, outdoor work (he helped Ben with the leaves), and again, "other".

Ethan has been carefully saving his money in his new red, velcro, trifold wallet. The money occasionally burns a hole in his pocket, and he splurges on some hot wheels. This has also been a great tool to get him to stop begging for me to buy him toys when we go out. He gets to use his own money which makes him proud, but also seems to make him much more conservative in his choices about what to buy. If something costs more than he has, we talk about how long he'll have to wait to be able to buy it, and if he spends just a little now, he'll have more saved for coming weeks. He still begs for toys, but then reevaluates based on the knowledge that he'll have to pony up the cash.