Am I right when I say that mom-ing really does feel like herding cats sometimes? As a Mom to four boys, it can seem like I am constantly directing traffic. I wish I could take credit for this Reward System and how we implemented it in our house, but I listened to a podcast and thought it was absolutely genius. Here I am sharing, praying I can help calm your chaos.
This site may contain affiliate links, which means I’ll receive a small commission at no additional cost to you.
What you need to start your Reward System!
- Tickets (Download your free printable HERE.)
- If you really want to press the easy button, click here for pre-made tickets.
- Envelope for your tickets
- One Envelope per Kid
- Notebook Paper and Pen
I don’t want this reward system in anyway to be hard to implement or expensive. I want this to be easy, because if you are anything like me… things that take a ton of work, don’t last.
The Steps to Make this Reward System work for you…
and for once and all, Calm the Chaos!
Below are the incredibly easy steps I took in order to make this system work for our family. PLEASE make sure you customize this to your family it will make the system stick. The below is what has worked for us and helped us to make our home a lot less crazy!
NUMBER ONE: Decide Reward Earning Tasks
Sit down and pick out the tasks in your home that seem to be surrounded with Chaos. You know, the things that you dread to do or you wish someone else would do for you. Write these down. I came up with about ten, definitely come up with your struggle points but these are mine.
- Clean out the Car- 5 Tickets
- Water Garden- 3 Tickets
- Take Trash Out- 2 Tickets
- Clean Bathroom- 4 Tickets
- Clean Mirrors
- Clean Shower & Tub
- Wipe Down Counters
- Vacuum a Room- 2 Tickets
- Pick up a Dirty Room- 3 Tickets
- Pull Weeds in the Garden or Flower Bed- 3 Tickets
- Be a Helper- 1 Ticket
- This is something you have to notice them doing to be a helper in the family. This is more of a reward for being part of the ‘team.’ Think… going over and beyond.
- Be Kind- 1 Ticket
- This ticket is earned when you notice one of your kids being incredibly kind. You could say, this is not something they work for but more you noticing that they are loving others well.
NUMBER TWO: Decide Ticket Take-Aways
Nothing drives me more crazy than the constant bickering, lying, tattling and just not getting along with one another. With this ticket reward system, they have both the chance to earn and get tickets taken away. This is their consequences and believe me, when they have worked so hard to do ticket earning jobs, they strongly dislike to lose the tickets. Again, find the things your kids do that seem like they create disruption in your home and list them. The below are our Ticket Take-Aways.
- Throwing a Fit- (-3) Tickets
- Tattling- (-1) Tickets
- Lying- (-2) Tickets
- Not getting along with Others- (-3) Tickets
- Complaining- (-3) Tickets
- Not Completing Responsibilities (-5) Tickets
- We have a list of ‘Helper Tasks’ which are things that the kids are expected to do because we are a team and all have to pitch in to win. We talk about being a team ALOT in our home. These are the things they have to do before they can earn ANY tickets.
- Brush Teeth
- Shower
- Feed Animals
- Put Away their personal laundry
- Tidy Bedroom
- Unload Dishwasher (This looks different depending on their age)
- 6-Year Old unloads silverware
- 9-Year Old unloads the rest
- Folding Job
- 6-Year Old folds wash cloths
- 9-Year Old folds towels
- Set and Clear Table (This happens throughout the day)
- We have a list of ‘Helper Tasks’ which are things that the kids are expected to do because we are a team and all have to pitch in to win. We talk about being a team ALOT in our home. These are the things they have to do before they can earn ANY tickets.
NUMBER THREE: Sit Down with your kid(s) and decide on Rewards
This is the driving force behind why they will WANT to do their helper tasks and ticket jobs. In other words, getting their input is crucial. Sit down and talk about things they would love to spend their tickets on. (Something that heavily influences this, is their love language.) My 9-Year olds love language is Quality Time and my 6-Year olds primary love language is gifts. When we sat down to decide on what rewards they would love to receive, this is what they came up with.
- One movie of your choice- 20 Tickets
- YouTube Video- Mom Approved (30-minutes) – 20 Tickets
- Nintendo Switch (30-minutes)- 30 Tickets
- Stay up Late- 35 Tickets
- Mom or Dad Date- 40 Tickets
- Have a Friend Over- 45 Tickets
- Earn Money
- $5- 50 Tickets
- $10- 85 Tickets
- $20- 125 Tickets
- $50- 200 Tickets
How has it helped our family calm the chaos??
Y’all this has been a game changer for our family. In A LOT of ways! As of last week, I am transitioning from working in a very demanding job to being home full time for the first time in the 8-Years of being Mom. (No, its not because I am earning a full-time income blogging, although, one can pray God will bless us through this) I am so excited for this transition but have been listening to podcast and reading so many blogs about how to stay sane. This ticket system has been a God-send so far. The boys are constantly asking what “helper tasks” they can do and have been super eager to earn their rewards. Not to mention, going from two incomes to one, this definitely helps with the constant asking to buy toys. Also, the asking to have screens.
In closing, my prayer for you Momma is that you can find some calm in your chaos. Please don’t forget to look for the little moments where Gods love shows up in big ways through your children.
xoxo- Mikala Mae