to encourage a little more sanity at home...

...I made a privilege board, inspired by my friend Emily. Those last few days of summer vacation were getting very whiney, and we were all losing it more than I'd like to admit. The kids weren't the only ones screaming and running around the house! I loved the concept Emily shared on her crafty blog! She used old scrapping materials, but I just used crafty left-overs. Basically I decided upon some privileges my kids often have. Can you tell what they are from my cryptic drawings?


Computer time, afternoon TV, a sweet thing, and Saturday morning cartoons to name a few. I bought a $5 magnetic board and covered it with some scrapbooking paper, ribbons, and stickers. The "privilege magnets" are clear glass pebbles. I drew pictures and glued then onto the back of the pebbles, then glued the magnets onto the paper.


So, each day most of the privileges stay in the "X" column except for the ones that they get for the day. I decide what the privileges are. Usually it's one or two for the day. It's helped with the whining a lot. If they know that we're not watching TV on a certain day, they don't ask so much. The left side of the board sort of tracks their behavior. They know if they get to the bottom, then I'll take away a privilege for the day. Any kind of fighting/screaming results in BOTH of their magnets moving down. They get real motivated to play nicely if they're both on the "2." It's amazing how nice they can be to each other.