Works for Me Wednesday: Bringing Your Child for Labwork

Ugh...bloodwork. I don't even like having bloodwork done, let alone having my children have their blood drawn!! The anxiety...the anticipation!! My daughter went for labwork this morning and it has been the talk of the classroom and dinner table since Monday. She was so brave!!

Before the big event, one does their research on how to make this a "more pleasant experience"...

All of the experts note the same recommendations:

Reassure her while she gets a needle.

Explain that it won't be more painful than a pinch and will be over quickly. (hopefully!!)

Encourage her to be strong and brave. While a needle looks frightening, they're not dangerous.
Talk to her calmly.

Take deep, slow breaths. (Child and Mom!!)

That's all well and good folks. But, what Works for Me?? Going out for breakfast after, going to school late, and good 'ol fashioned bribery...

Silly Bands...they're all the rage!

Works every time!!

Values in our home...An Update

Parenting is too important to leave to chance and too important to be approached defensively or by reaction...

Since starting our reward system last week things have gone a bit smoother and our children are quite enthusiastic about the changes! I'm proud to say our three year old son has 5 gold coins and our six year old daughter has 7 gold coins! (our son succumbed to a few meltdowns, and consequently lost a few coins in the process) He'll get the hang of it!!

I also wanted to share some great resources out there on how to help with teaching values and responsibilities in your home ...one I like to check out is valuesparenting.com. This month's discussion is teaching loyalty and dependability, with tips for preschoolers, school age, and adolescents! They also have monthly parenting tips. I'm not a member, but they offer several free activites and resources, so check them out!

Values in our home

For awhile now my husband and I have been thinking of and trying to develop a behavioral and responsibility system that works. Our six year old is ready for, or actually needs, responsibility. We want to teach our three year old early on how to be responsible, and he is actually better at following through with chores than his older sister. He likes helping. Kids need a purpose.

Which brings us to the Spiritual Treasure Reward System. This is very much like the Marble Reward system I used while teaching, and it's still used in many classrooms because it works. Each child will have a chart with a list of certain responsibilities. If those responsibilites are met, they will earn a "coin" in their jar. (which I printed on cardstock) The same for behavior. If they fail to fulfill their chores or don't behave or follow the family/house rules, they will lose a coin. As a motivation there will be a list of rewards to choose from at the end of the week, along with a little "store" by using their earned coins. Included is: a movie of choice with popcorn and hot chocolate, a Mc. D's happy meal, a night at the movie theater, bowling, etc., and from the "store": stickers, crayons, Barbie doll, superheroes, etc...

The kids are excited and so are we! Ready to start in the morning!

Two lonely jars awaiting golden coins...

What works for your family?