What Has Worked - Stickers

With the move around the corner, I thought it would be fun to document what has been beneficial to our family this past year.

One word - stickers! It started with me just wanting to record the days when we schooled. It was the one of the best things I ever did. I place a small sticker for every session we completed on the wall calendar. Some days we had two stickers - one for the morning session, one for the afternoon. Some days we had one or even none.

It was great! At first, it motivated me to just start the day regardless of moods. Then I became aware how much could be done in just a two-hour session. So even on days when we had something schedule in the morning and in the late afternoon, I was motivated to squeeze in a session knowing it only took two hours. As time went by, we could complete more sessions in a week than a year ago. This is despite having similar outside commitments.

As school became more consistent, so did our routines. In order to complete school regularly, we realize how important routines were. We couldn't focus if we weren't well-fed, the house not reasonably tidy and the twin toddlers not gainfully occupied. All these were simple, if and only if, we stuck to our routines.

I did worry that such an emphasis on routines would suck the joy and the spontaneity of life. What I found out was routines become more important as our family grew larger. It was comforting to everyone to know that there was a designated time for work and play. It was comforting to me to know that the schedule we drafted to include the needs of all the individuals in our family. No one would be lost in the busyness of a large family.

Yes, all this because of a 500-sticker pack from the dollar store. I might have to revised my opinions on the phrase "punished by rewards". :)