Mommy Win! (They Happen Every Once in a While. . .. =)

Laura threw a book at me today. She was genuinely surprised when it hit my head. Before I could even get upset (which frankly, I am prone to do sometimes!), she came up to me with wide eyes and hugged and kissed me and said, "I'm sorry Mommy! It's OK, Mommy! Calm down, Mommy! It's OK!"

My heart melted at that! I love how she is learning the natural consequences for her actions (i.e.-throwing a book at someone's head will most likely result in some sort of owie). And I love her gentle nature that had her comforting me right away. She's seen Mommy and Daddy comfort Lucy when she's crying by saying the same things--it's okay, calm down, etc.

Today I also fully implemented a new reward system, and we've had EXCELLENT results so far! I've had some packages of raffle tickets that I bought several months ago to use for my Usborne business. Since I wasn't using them, and the girls liked to play with them, I decided to put them to use. So now Laura can earn tickets for things like:

-reading a book with Mommy or Daddy
-sharing toys
-helping with household chores (laundry, dishes, etc.)
-putting away clothes, toys, dishes, etc.
-sitting on the potty
-making pee pee or poo poo on the potty.

She loses tickets for things like:

-hitting, poking, pushing, etc.
-not finishing a meal
-having potty accidents in her panties
-screaming

So I did that for a few days, letting her earn and lose tickets, and then I attached rewards to them. So, for 15 tickets, she can watch one episode of Dora the Explorer (then she's not watching 15 million of those a day!). She can get an ice cream cone for 25 tickets, a candy for 5 tickets, etc. Granted, right now, all she wants to use her tickets for is watching Dora, but something is finally working! She gets so excited when we count the tickets together to see if she has enough for her desired prizes. Sometimes she was so close, I had to quickly decide something I needed help with so she could earn a ticket. "Hey, let's draw a picture for Daddy!" or "These blocks need to be put away." It's a good motivator for me too . ..I have to find positive things for her to do, instead of just letting her watch Dora after Dora all morning. . . .=) Hopefully this excitement continues over the next several days and weeks! =)

p.s. She always asks for a snack cup full of carrots while she's watching Dora. If my kid is asking for vegetables for a snack, I certainly won't deny her of them!! =)