While we've done motivational charts over the years for various things, being rewarded with small toys and/or chocolate chips constantly enough to maintain our interest in the system felt more like a pay-for-(good)-play approach. Bribery, if you will.
My mom feared the experts -- particularly those in the field of dental care -- would frown upon this kind of parenting.
A few weeks ago, though, my mom was browsing Facebook when a Pinterest repost caught her eye. It was a beautifully hand-decorated mason jar that read, "Caught Doing Good," half filled with colorful glass marbles, each one representing an instance in which a kid had been caught doing something really wonderful.
My mom studied the picture for a moment and felt inspired.
Inspired but, unfortunately, not particularly motivated. Which is why this post lacks a picture of any kind of clever handiwork intended to incite both wonder and envy amongst her mom friends.
Finding herself short two mason jars and in possession of no marbles (perhaps they had all been lost!), she stopped to think about what she could possibly use that we already had around the house. Which is how she settled on brown lunch bags (which she made us decorate ourselves) and an economy-size bag of cotton balls.
Not just regular cotton balls, she explained. Cotton Balls of Goodness. And every time we demonstrated behavior that was better than average, we could reward ourselves by putting one in our bag.
Brilliant, we thought. BRILLIANT!
Lucky for her, we've never been on Pinterest, so we don't know how UnMarthaStewartly she truly is. And the truth is, it doesn't matter one bit, because two weeks into the Cotton Balls of Goodness program, the Random Acts of Goodness continue to overwhelm.
Now, not only do we work out our differences when we both want the same toy/lollipop flavor/spot in line, we practically fight over who will sacrifice for the other person. Now, not only do we put away our toys without whining, we often do it before we are asked. We are self starters. We are self solvers. We are self seekers of random opportunities to do good.
Tonight, after bedtime, Mom discovered my bed was empty. She thought it was quite uncotton-ball-like behavior, until she found me organizing the counter top in Rowan's bathroom.
Just to clarify, instead of watching my iPad in bed, I was organizing the counter top. In Rowan's bathroom.
For a Cotton Ball.
Of Goodness.
Once our bags are full, we will be heading out for ice cream. And we don't care one bit that, given the roominess of our "extra large" lunch bags, this reward is surely weeks away.
My Mom insists that several years from now, we will laugh that we worked SO HARD for cotton balls. Given the success of the program thus far, she is confident that we will be laughing as intrinsically good people with a heart of gold and a desire to do good.
