Stickers!

We've been struggling with some typical three year old behaviors lately (the phrase "threenager" is pretty apt).  We've been trying a lot of positive reinforcement techniques, and have had the most luck so far with sticker charts.  It is amazing what a three year old will do for a sticker.  If I could find something that motivated adults even 10% as well as a sticker motivates a three year old, I could run the world.  But I digress.  

The sticker charts started as sleep fairy charts.  Since we transitioned out of cribs in January, the kids have been going through phases of coming into our bed at night, almost every night for a week or two.  Sometimes one, sometimes both, and either way the result is not enough sleep for any of us.  After struggling for months to get them to stay in their own beds all night, Matt told them very seriously that the "sleep fairy" would stop by to visit and see if they were in their own beds, and she would leave them a sticker if they stayed in their beds all night.  If not, no sticker.

Wouldn't you know it, they slept in their beds all night and got up in the morning all excited to see if the sleep fairy had left them a sticker.  And it kept working.  So we decided to see what else this would work for...

We change the charts weekly (in theory), although "sleep in my bed all night" remains the #1 goal for both of them (it's been hit or miss lately, but we've had a couple good nights in a row, so maybe we're back on track).  They can also earn stickers for picking up toys before bed, trying new foods, getting ready when asked (Lucinda is a really pokey little puppy in the mornings), using the potty (Malcolm has been making great strides on potty training lately), or whatever else we set as a goal to work on that week.  

At the end of the week, if they've done well all week, they get a reward, which is typically something we planned to do anyway, but they don't need to know that :)