I Think We're Onto A Winner!

With the ultimate tool of a pen and post-it note, I think I have found a way to get my kids to do just about anything!

It started during dinner one night when, as usual, my kids were refusing to eat.

Everything was "yucky".

Food that they had once professed their love for and shovelled into their mouths was now a reject.

I was at that point where I was thinking "Is it another night of no dinner, empty tummies and waking up starving in the early hours of the morning?"

Not ideal!

Then I looked over to my computer desk and saw my post-it notes and had a sudden brain explosion.

Tickets!

It was the day after I had made the delicious Carrot & Walnut cake.

I don't usually let my kids have dessert, after all, a sugar high right before bed is not the best idea!

But this cake, with only honey as a sweetener, was the perfect candidate for bribery material.

I wrote out a "dessert ticket" complete with a little badly drawn picture of a slice of cake and proceeded to explain the rules to the kids.

Whoever ate their dinner, would get a ticket for dessert.

My fiance had already finished his so I made a big deal out of giving him one.

The kids got excited.

My daughter was the first to clear her plate.

My son saw everyone else had finished, and had tickets and he began to throw food so fast we had to tell him to slow down to stop choking on it!

It was quite a treat to have dessert after dinner, and I held onto hope that the ticket system would work again another day.

So far we have used tickets as a reward a few times, with mostly success. I have had to stick to my guns though, and not cave in and give one to my stubborn son if he doesn't obey.

But they seem to be loving the novelty of a ticket, and the reward that it brings.

The reward isn't always cake though!

We've had a family milkshake date to the local cafe and a kid's movie night at home too.

Now, I need to find more incentives that aren't always food!

But for now, I'll put this one down as a success.