Strong In Spirit - *Something I Made Monday*

Hard to believe it’s Monday again, already!  Here we go…!

This is our “Strong in Spirit” board.  Derek and I have a desire to raise our children to not only be strong physically, confident in their abilities, etc. etc. but we want them to be spiritually strong.  We want to instill in them a desire to serve and love others, and in doing so they will be serving and loving God.  It also helps with obedience training.  Win/Win! :]

I’d been praying about how I might make this a little more visible to the children.  I’m not really, really huge on reward systems.  I feel like this one is a different because it doesn’t focus so much on self.  Let me explain how it works:

I got these heart-shaped foam stickers  in the dollar section at Target.

I give the children a job to do.  This job is equal to their abilities.  For example, this morning Audrey picked up a box of crayons that she dumped out, while Roen vacuumed the dining room.  When they complete a task that has been a help to me or daddy or anyone else in the family, they get to put a sticker up on the board under their name and the correct day of the week.  We go week by week.  This gives them examples and ideas of how they can be serve others and be a blessing to their family.  Soon enough, I won't have to ask them to do things, they'll just be able to look around and see what's needs to be done and do it.  I can't wait for that day! ;]  I explained that they will not be rewarded for doing just anything.  Sorry, but picking up a scrap of something off the floor and throwing it away doesn't earn a sticker.  Thanks for the help, though.  Also, I explained that I'm looking for quality not quantity.  Roen might "pick up" the living room, but throwing everything off the floor into the toy box, including my shoes, papers, and other things that don't belong is not what I'm looking for.  I'll have him redo the work until it's done right.  Like I said, I'm not asking them to do anything outside their ability.  But I expect a job well done.  I'm not raising mediocre children who do mediocre work.  I want to raise hard working, responsible people who do it right the first time.  That might sound harsh, but sorry folks, that's the real world.  My kids know I love them :]

Roen's penny jar & Audrey's penny jar.

Now, not only do they get a sticker to put on a board (which is a very helpful visual aid for children) but they earn money at the same time.  Pennies!!  Now with this I go by age.  The older you are, the more pennies you earn.  It doesn't mean that Roen's work is better than Audrey's.  When Roen earns a sticker, he also earns 3 pennies, because he's 3 years old.  Audrey gets 1 penny because she is 1 year old.  These pennies will add up all week long.  On Sunday mornings we will empty out each child's jar and all the pennies they earned that week they get to put in the offering basket at church.  This is one way of saying thank you to God for giving us the ability to work and the desire to serve others.  The children get to decide how much they want to give back to God by how hard they served during the week.  

Both Roen and Audrey are very excited about this, and so am I!!  If you decide to implement this into your family, let me know how it goes!!  :]