End of The Experiment reward

Here we are at the end of 6 months worth of getting rid of youth entitlement in our home. What a journey.

Here is the breakdown of their challenges:
Keep bed made and the floor of the room clear every day
Cook one meal a week (including setting table and loading dishwasher)
Put away personal laundry
Get out of comfort zone and do service with a smile
Get ready for school on time
Toilets: aim and keep them clean once a week.

As a reward for their hard work, and taking on challenges with no complaining every month, they got to plan and host their own party during Spring Break. They each got $20 and could do whatever they wanted.

Zach decided to do a Bake and Blend Party and used his money to buy treats and ingredients. He invited 3 close buddies, and they had a bake off. In the end, each team ended up making chocolate muffins, but they learned a few things about baking without a recipe, and had fun cracking eggs. Then, they got to blend a personal smoothie. They took some time in between to build Lego, and talk about school. The teams were tied at the end, so they had a Wii basketball tournament to decide the winner. They boys all stayed one hour longer, since they were having so much fun!

Tyler wanted a Chuck the Chicken party. He used the money to buy plastic chickens to throw around. He invited 4 friends, and they had a incredible time throwing around the chickens, playing carnival games, going for an egg hunt, drawing on hard boiled eggs, and building Lego (of course...no one comes to our home without building something from Lego). After lunch, they took a time out to watch one of Tyler's favorite TV shows Tron, with some popcorn. It was a noisy time, having the boys race around, but his party was a success, and he felt proud to be in charge of everything.

Seven Habits of Happy Kids

This week we have been readying the Seven Habits of Happy Kids by Sean Covey. It is a picture book, with a bunch of characters that the kids can relate to, and in so doing they can apply the good habits in their lives. We can use the common words together now when there is a problem. If Tyler does not want to do homework, I might say, "We need to put first things first" and he will know I don't want him to procrastinate.
This book teaches them proper principles that are needed more than ever. Each chapter covers one habit, and at the end there is a parent/teacher page to help kids take small steps in developing this habit. At the end of the book is a diagram of how the habits work together.
I have read all the stories over and over, and it is the book they ask for at night. Each time, we ask them questions from the end of the chapter, and we talk about how we can work on it.
Great book.