Our new "reward" system

I think I've said it 8 million times - Allie can be an extremely difficult child.  It's her way or the highway.  It's Allie's world and you just have to find somewhere to fit in it.  When she is sweet, the kid makes me want to clone her...when she's a fit throwing toot, I question my sanity.

We started a new reward system around the house this weekend that seems to be paying off...for now at least. 

I bought some frilly miniature pom-pons at Hobby Lobby (purple, pink and sparkly silver) and she now gets one pom-pon when she does something positive.  Now "positive" in our house may be different that those reading (again, Allie is difficult) but situations that can lead to a pom-pon are not arguing or throwing fits, helping me unload the dishwasher, using her manners, picking up her shoes, etc.  There are many different things she can do to earn one.  When she gets a pom-pon, it goes in a little pink cup we have and after a day or two, when the cup is full, she gets a reward.  Saturday night I ran to Walgreen's and out of nowhere I found the cutest prize, 1/2 price, with 5 items in it - 3 pairs of frilly dress-up shoes and 2 tiaras.  When the cup fills up, she gets to choose one prize out of the box.

This morning Allie received her first award (and she slept all night in her "big girl bed" which she also gets a treat for, so she actually got two).  I was so proud that SHE was so proud of herself.  She immediately picked out a pair of pink frilly heals and the most decorative tiara in the box, and insisted on wearing them to the car to school, putting them in her cubby once she got there, then when I picked her up this afternoon she had to put the shoes and tiara on before leaving her classroom.  Again, it makes me happy to think we might have figured out a way to not only positively discipline her, but to also reward.

- Carmen