Huge Thumbs up!

Do you have a hard time getting your kids up and moving in the mornings? Have to be out the door at a certain time, and kids are dawdling, playing around instead of getting dressed? I found the coolest thing! It's called Children's Miracle Music- It is SOOO simple yet effective. Each morning at 7:30 I simply push play on the cd player. Each child has the opportunity to earn 8 points in the morning.

The first point is "Make your Bed" There is lively music to get kids up and moving and making their beds. You can't help but cooperate and beat the song done. 2nd point is "use the bathroom" (ok- so I have to hit the repeat button- because the 2 minutes isn't long enough for 3 boys to use the restroom- but it works fine- just repeat it for each kid!) Point 3 is "do your act of kindness" (aka- JOBS!- each boy straightens up either the living room or dining room, then one cleans the toilet and the other empties the dishwasher) There is about 10 minutes worth of songs- all lively and energetic to help you get your act of kindness done. Point 4 is "Get dressed and put your pajamas away" Point 5 is "fix your hair" (ok- so my houseful of boys doesn't need 6 minutes to fix their hair! lol) So they feed their animals instead. Point 6 is "Eat your breakfast" 8 short songs to help them gauge how quickly they need to eat- it's 10 minutes or so- so it's really plenty of time to eat. (unless you are a slowpoke like Roo!- who has a hard time eating his breakfast that quickly) Point 7 is "Rinse your dish" So they rush like mad dogs to get the breakfast dishes done. Point 8 is Brush your teeth- I had to tell the boys to "brush until the song was over....otherwise 10 seconds later- I'm done.... yah- go back and brush them GOOD!" Then there's a song to mark your points on the chart.

According to their program- the points go towards a "private date" with mom or dad. We do it differently- as we do dates anyway- I didn't want to make them earn those- they are just so we can spend time together. We have a token economy in our home- and tokens will buy you computer/tv time, candy, small toys, soda pop, and other rewards. So they get tokens for their points. They can then spend on whatever they would like.

There is also a bedtime routine cd- which we haven't used- simply because I don't have a hard time getting kids to bed on time ....(I'm a stickler! with my 8:00 bedtime!- yes- even in the summer time- after 8:00 is MY time) Though I think I'm going to try the bedtime routine before lunch- at least the act of kindness song anyhow- and have them tidy up the rooms they are in charge of before lunch.

At any rate- it is working WONDERS at our house- sure the music and voice are cheesy- but the kids are getting up and moving quickly! Here is the website again- they have samples of the music on there.