Wonder how this will play out . . .

I have an injured right hand.  I can't really get it wet.

BUT I have two kiddos who are saving every available dollar to put towards something they both REALLY want and are planning to share.  Without me telling them to pool their savings, they decided to do so throw it all together.

So, this morning, as I surveyed my kitchen and all the dishes that need to be done.  I thought about just telling the kiddos to do them.  They CAN do them, and they WILL do them, if they are told to do the dishes.

If I do that, there will be wails and gnashing of teeth.  I won't let them keep wailing and gnashing their teeth because that is unpleasant for ALL of us.  I can stop it without bribing me children and I have before.

But . . .but . . .

What if I offer my ten year boy and his younger sister money for cleaning up the kitchen?  I want them to get their hearts desire almost as much as they want it.   This is what  my plan looks like:

$4 if they clean it together, but bicker.
$5 if only one kiddos works on the kitchen
$6 if they can work together nicely.

So far, it is working beautifully.  The bad attitudes that I hate dealing with are not in the kitchen.  I'll let you know how it goes . . .

~ Jenn

Edited to Add:

The bad attitudes vanished immediately when I reminded them that they got more money if they had a good attitude.

I did have to remind them that it was not okay for one sibling to go lay in the hammock while the other did most of the work . . .

Other than that, it worked quite well and they got lots of praise for their good attitudes and excellent work.  Yay for my kiddos!