marbles

"Who's going to take the dog out?" That's a question I ask more times than I care to know in a given day. Usually the response is something like, "I took her out last time." or "It's M's turn". It gets old fast. So, John and I have been praying for some inspiration about how to handle the doggie dilemma. We want the kids to take independent responsibility for walking Molly, without continuous reminders or scheduling on our part. Not because we're lazy but because we want them to see that the dog needs to go out and then act on it...not wait to be told or asked. Anyone else out there hear me? I think that's our goal as parents, to work ourselves out of a job. To equip them to do what needs to be done and then to step back and allow them to do that task, whatever it may be. I really don't think it helps them for us to do everything for them.

So, I was reading through Family Fun and I saw the idea. They were suggesting using marbles as a training for piano practice, but we've adopted it for our doggie dilemma. I put a large jar of marbles by the front door along with three smaller jars. Whenever anyone takes Molly out, they get to take a marble out of the large jar and put it into their own individual jar. When they've collected 15 marbles, they earn an extra privilege. (extra computer time or wii time or even a blessing that John and I choose)I think that's kind of like life...when you've done what you need to do you have time for some extra privileges. I really like this so far. I like it, because it's rewarding the good behavior, it's causing them to be on the lookout for opportunities to be responsible and it's also making it their job to keep track of their good efforts (not mine).

I'll keep you posted as to it's long term success...just yesterday Jammer asked me, "Do you get two marbles if you take her for a walk and she poops?" oh boy!