http://store.cassandraskitchen.com/luxminutemindertimer.aspx
I have been having trouble getting it all done. (The previous sentence was an understatement!) My children are taking 3 hours to do a 30 minute assignment and holding me prisoner in the process. I called my mom in desperation today who had a great idea. Play beat the clock! The kids understand what they are supposed to do and are smart enough to do it, they are just wasting time. I use a basic Lux timer (the one above is available from Cassandra's Kitchen) and set it for the amount of time I think it should take plus a couple of extra minutes. If they beat the clock they get a daddy dollar.
The idea for Daddy dollars were shared with me by my dear friend and Grocery Shrink supporter, Pam Stuck. She got the idea from Family Fun Magazine. (I take that magazine but missed the idea!) I made our dollars at http://www.festisite.com/money/
The kids earn money by meeting expectations and then can turn in their money for extra privieges like watching a movie, having a family ice cream night or inviting a friend to spend the night. They are a big hit around here and my kids would rather have a daddy dollar than a real dollar right now. That's fine by me! It's only 11:00 am around here and my second child is almost finished with his entire day's work. Yea!
I've been thinking that this idea might work for me too. I could play beat the clock on my dishes and folding laundry. I wonder what DH would trade my daddy dollars for ?…
What an excellent idea! I also get the Family Fun magazine and must have missed this. Thanks for sharing!!!
I love it! My kids are major time wasters (note to self- self examination may be in order?) anyway, I have tried all manner of things to get them to be better users of their time. (and mine) My husband also tries to encourage them that “in the real world” time is money and they won’t make money by wasting time. This would be an excellent way to drive that point home.
So, how would we do this for ourselves? Perhaps having hubby set the “time lot” would be fare. I think this would be inspirational! Another idea here would be to give myself a way to earn spending dollars instead of just pleading with hubby for money when I get the need to spend, and then feeling guilty for spending. I could earn those spending dollars at an amount hubby feels good about and feel proud of the spending money I’ve earned.