Parents Vs. Kids

Oh you guys, we've had a rough couple of weeks at our house. There has been lots of arguing, refusing to help, ignoring directions, and so much more. I try really hard not to turn my house into a classroom, but I'm at my wits end and Mama Teacher has entered the room.

When I was in the classroom, we'd do Teacher Vs. Students. As a class, we'd choose a behavior that we needed to work on- walking in the hallway, following directions, etc. If the students met that expectation, they received a point and if they didn't, the teacher received a point. At the end of the day, if the students won they received extra tech time or something that they wanted.

Starting tomorrow, we're Parents Vs. Kids. Bobby and I came up with expectations that we want Bo and Elliott to meet in our house. We don't expect them to do all of these things every day or be perfect at all, but we just wanted to make sure that we were clear with what is and is not acceptable in our house. We also wanted to make sure that Bobby and I were on the same page about behaviors.

So every time a behavior is done, that team earns a point. If Bo and Elliott win at the end of the day, they get to stay up later and play a game or spend time with us. We chose to do a daily celebration so that our kids could feel that immediate reward for their good choices.

A couple of extra things:
-I included the chart this time, because we wanted Bo and Elliott to be able to visually see who was winning.
-When you give one team a point, be positive rather than negative. (Congrats, Dad! We earned a point vs. "Bummer, Bo and Elliott you didn't earn a point). You don't want to escalate feelings about not earning.
-You could have a reward everyday like we are or have another chart for a collective ten wins. You could have kids working for bigger things- like a movie or adventure.
-Put this in a page protector or laminate so you can use day after day.

I've also included my Parents Vs. Kids Chart plus some other goodies. I hope they're helpful! Give @ellibodesigns a shout out when you use them in your house!

We've got this, friends. Someday I know that I'm not even going to remember these difficult moments. My kids are going to do amazingly kind and caring things that make the world a better place. But until then, I'm just going to need to less laser shooting and being told I'm a bad mom. I hope this works for us. I need a win right now. What works well for you in your house to maintain some sort of order? Share below.