treat tickets otherwise known as STAY IN YOUR ROOM

I have no nappers at my house. No one sleeps. I'm the only one who wants to sleep, but none of us do. I miss the days of naps. We may not be getting naps, but we need some quiet time. We need some time to ourselves. I need some time where seventeen people aren't demanding juice in the blue cup with the red lid (no, not that red lid- the other red lid), tattling on their brother for taking the Polly with blond hair in a pony tail (the obvious favorite Polly amongst the 300 in the Polly box), and crying at the same time to go to the library, watch a video, and have a friend over. Mama needs a few minutes.

To encourage my little people to STAY IN YOUR ROOM during nap time, we had to come up with this little ditty.

Each child is given two paper coins at the beginning of nap time. If you leave your room for any reason, you pay a coin. If you leave twice, you loose all your coins and you're out. Anyone with a coin after the timer goes off (1 hour for us), gets some type of small treat. The treat may be a tootsie roll, a handful of yogurt raisins, or a few belly jelly beans, a sticker, etc.

Bee thinks this is great. She even likes to purposely loose the first coin by coming out to ask some silly question. Giving them the physical coins (although it could be any object) gives them more ownership of their choices and lets them track their progress in a more physical way.

Lou still struggles with staying in his room and cries a lot when I take his coins, but this is great motivation for Bee. Lou is getting better. I can't help but give in though when he says, "I play in Bee's room? Please mama dear?" I mean, come on...