We play games with the kids all day long whether it is Chutes and Ladders, Candy Land, Jenga, Boggle Jr. Letters or other dozen or so. So, why not add another one while eating dinner?
Seth and I are so sick of constantly arguing with the kids and reminding them of good table manners, like when they bang their silverware or blow bubbles in their water cup. Attempts to curb this behavior, like taking their plates away from them, were never successful. (Note: It isn't any better at lunch time.) At night, in addition to their bad behavior, they eat little or even nothing. (For some reason, at breakfast time they eat in almost absolute silence, perhaps because they're too hungry to cause a fuss.)
Seth and I are so sick of constantly arguing with the kids and reminding them of good table manners, like when they bang their silverware or blow bubbles in their water cup. Attempts to curb this behavior, like taking their plates away from them, were never successful. (Note: It isn't any better at lunch time.) At night, in addition to their bad behavior, they eat little or even nothing. (For some reason, at breakfast time they eat in almost absolute silence, perhaps because they're too hungry to cause a fuss.)
So, to enjoy our dinners, rather than argue with the kids during the entire meal, Seth invented yet another "game". He writes all our names on a blackboard and whenever someone misbehaves, they'll get an "x". Whoever gets 4 "x"s gets to take a shower! (Our kids despise taking showers). And the verdict is ... it worked so far. The most David received was 2 x's and that even bothered him. Neither child has taken a shower and I think the noise level decreased about 80%. That's a game where everyone wins.
1 comment:
OMG!! This is brilliant! Jordan hates taking a shower too (unfortunately, Mina likes them, argh!!) I'll have to come up with a punishment just for her. But I love the idea of the visual reminder with the chalkboard.
S
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