A Sticker a Day?

We are trying something with Hayden. He's been such a little you know what, that we figured a threat may be just the thing to get his butt in gear. What?! That sweet little face is a little pain in the rear?! Yes, it is.

Hayden isn't always bad, he can be a sweetheart, great helper and just a wonderful little boy, but right now, the bad is outweighing the good. Unfortunately. So, I thought of a little calendar and sticker idea with the idea of this: Every day Hayden is good, doesn't excessively whine, eats well, cleans up, gets dressed without a fuss, bathes without a breakdown, etc, he gets to put a sticker on a calendar before he goes to bed. If there has been too much yelling, threatening, and disciplining on mine or Buddy's part...you got it, no sticker.

It's pretty amazing that a little piece of paper with a sticky side to it could make all the difference in the actions of a 4 year old. We started this on the 4th of this month, today is the 10th, it's been 7 days. So far, 5 stickers. Yesterday, he lost it before noon and he had preschool in the morning. I was with him a total of an hour and a half and he lost it. He was really bummed about that this morning and today has been a better day.

I think it's working. Our threat for this month is pretty simple and I think that's why it's working. I won't divulge, cuz some may think it's pretty harsh. But, since it's our kid and we are the ones who have to put up with him, we're sticking to our guns. Yes, it does have to do with what he may or may not receive for Christmas. I'll leave it at that. Sorry.

We are going to keep it up through the months. Hayden seems to like the idea of doing something special at the end of the day and he does have to earn it. Keeping fingers crossed that this is the making of an even greater kid.