Capitalism, it's the new Black... for Preschoolers.

We've recently begun a new system. It's called The Point System Challenge. Both BOY & GIRL have the ability to earn points for good behavior and when they accrue 30 points they get to pick out a small prize at the toy store. Capitalism is all the rage here at Casa de Motherscribe. Yes, the system is working and my children are fast becoming Venture Capitalists. Like Wall Street we have good days and bad days. The Motherscribe Industrial Marketplace plunged 10 points this morning....This afternoon the market climbed 10 points to finish with 18 marbles in the container. It's all about marbles and plastic containers. BOY is now going to bed by himself most nights and sleeping through the night without puttering into our bedroom some of the time. This is MAJOR NEWS. The Marketplace is rallying! And...yes, it speaks to my brilliance, if I may brag. After all, tomorrow is another day and the victory will be long gone. So, let me smirk for a day. A little ingenuity, a few marbles and recyclable plastic containers make our world go round.

BOY was always the perfect sleeper. As a baby he took 2 naps, later 1 nap, and always slept through the night after he was 6 months old. Several months ago, BOY started "needing" us to sit/lay down/fall asleep with him at bedtime. In the beginning he was legitimately scared, and I realize that this is a very common developmental stage, but after a few months it became a routine and BOY was no longer truly scared. We tried a night light. "Mommy, what are those SCARY shadows?!" We tried threatening jail time. That didn't work. Yes, I am kidding. Kind of. I got to my breaking point a couple of weeks ago. On average I was spending 30-45 minutes with him in his room at night. I was feeling angry, resentful and mad at him when I was really angry with myself for creating this mess. I am the parent after all. Just WHO is in charge here? Apparently, for a while, him!

So we have come up with The Point System Challenge...

Challenge #1 is for BOY to stay in his bed. We tuck him in, chat for a few minutes, give hugs and kisses and leave the room. He is not to get up and come out of his room or call for us to come back into his room. He is to go to sleep.

Challenge # 2 is for BOY to sleep through the night without appearing as The BOY who is SCARED in our room at 2, 3 or 4am. Yes, it has sometimes been 3 times a night and yes, we have been sleep deprived for months. In the last couple of months he's been getting up just once a night for the most part. Sometimes twice. So, the goal is for him to sleep through the night. At 4 1/2 years old! What a concept!!

BOY can earn 5 points for staying in his room at bedtime. If he comes out once, he loses 2 points and just earns 3 points. If he comes out twice, he doesn't earn any points or ZERO points. BOY can earn 5 points if he sleeps through the night. If he wakes up once and comes into our room, he loses 2 points. If he comes into our room more than once he earns ZERO points. We've been doing The Point System Challenge for almost 2 weeks now and it is working really well. The goal is to earn 10 points per night. Some nights he earns 10, more nights he earns 6-8 points, and sometimes ZERO points.

Not to miss out on anything, GIRL wanted in on the action. She is Market Savvy and saw the payoff prize or the end result - 30 points = pick out a toy. She's no novice on the Motherscribe Industrial Marketplace Express. So, we came up with two challenges for GIRL. All things being equal...right.

Challenge #1: If GIRL goes to bed without objections she can earn 5 points. If she starts to make a protest and then readjusts her attitude quickly and goes to bed, she loses 2 points for bad attitude, but earns 3 points for self-correcting it. If she raises a stink, she earns ZERO points.

Challenge #2: GIRL must get up and get dressed right away in the morning. No dilly dallying. If she succeeds, she earns 5 points. If she protests initially, but then turns it around, she can earn 3 points. If she refuses to comply, she gets ZERO points and we all can order pizza for breakfast and kick back because it is going to be a long ass road to dressdom and you better pack earplugs.

If you are still reading along and your head isn't spinning with numerals, please say...Thank you for that math lesson, JCK.

So far The Point System Challenge appears to be working overall. Once the 30 points are earned, we go back to ZERO and start the challenge again. We use colored marbles for the points and their favorite part of the "game" is counting out the marbles that they've earned. It helps to have them do it together so that they are also aware of the other person's point total. Encouraging sibling rivalry and all... Competition in the home place! Whoop! Whoop!

Last week BOY achieved 30 marbles and he got to pick out a toy. And Saturday, with her 30 points, it was GIRL's day to pick something out. Capitalism...it's the new Preschoolers Black. Hopefully we won't be in the red soon with additional purchases. A few marbles and a couple of plastic containers. Who knew?

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