Mommy Bucks!

We were at the zoo with friends when I over heard a nice mom near by say to her kids...

"You all have been such great listeners that you each get a Mommy Buck when we get home."

So naturally it sparked my interest and I had to ask what exactly are Mommy's Bucks and she was nice enough to share the idea with me. I was so excited to get started and I did that night!

Mommy Bucks is money that you make from home (google it and find printables, cut up paper, go to the dollar store and find the fake money) and that your kids can earn around the house and/or for good behavior. Then you have a bin full of goodies such as books, crayons, stickers, snacks, toys, etc. that they can buy with their money earned! 

I loved this idea! It has worked wonders! It can teach so many things while also accomplishing good behavior. Of course I'm not opposed to other forms of discipline when needed also.

I'm excited for Monkey to start learning the concept of money and of work! Daddy has to go to work every day in order to get money...well now Monkey will have to do work around the house to earn money. I'm hoping this will be the beginning of a strong work ethic. The beginning of money management and how to save for the things he really wants and needs. Also it will encourage him to not crave instant gratification and gets rid of the entitlement of allowance for not doing anything to earn it! When the boys get older Mommy bucks will be converted to really bucks.

Here is a picture of how I set it up. I have the money on the front of his Mommy Store and it's on a shelf high enough that he can't easily mess with it.

Here's what we do:

• Morning Routine completed without whining or complaining (breakfast, brush teeth, dressed on own)
• Helping Mommy (when asked to help must complete task without whining)
• Clean Up (must clean up toys without whining when asked)
• Obey on the First Time/Obey the House Rules
• Nighttime Routine completed without whining or complaining (PJ's, brush teeth, listening nicely to stories, staying in bed quietly)

Each of these earns Monkey a Mommy Buck. Plus there are many more things that I end up giving extra Mommy Bucks for too from time to time. But if he breaks the rules listed above he gets a Mommy Buck taken away. He can also get them taken away for talking back /being rude or anything else we choose. We are pretty consistent with when he gets them and when he gets them taken away.

We have been doing this now for about 2ish months and I have to say that it does work fantastic as long as you stick with it. It's positive reinforcement which is all the rage right now with kids with a bonus in work ethic and money management skills. What could be better. I have a (Oh My the last time I will probably write) 3 year old that says Thank You almost every time we do anything for him. It melts my heart when I place his meal in front of him and he looks up at me and says, "Thank You Mommy for making me this good food" full of gratitude! 

Another bonus is it travels easy too! When we headed to OK in February we took the envelopes along so he could still earn Mommy Bucks. When Sunday came around we counted up his money from the week and headed to the store for his to pick something out. It worked great and was a consistent form of behavior management for me while there.

I have to say that I love this idea and I wish I could have started earlier with him. I can't wait to see how Goose responds to this as he gets older. I'm guessing he will be ready for it sometime in the Fall/Winter!