Button Jar

Dash has been somewhat of a challenge lately, what with his insolence & general lack of civility. We've been working the whole naughty-corner + no-tv-after-school + no-dessert angle pretty hard, but most of his really hideous behavior is happening in the mornings, and whatever punishment we mete out has to wait until the evening when we get home from work. The punishment was kicking in so much later than the bad behavior that it'd become disconnected and felt random. I knew we needed to come up with something more immediate, but that could be executed quickly in the mornings.

Enter the button jar.

We now keep a glass jar & a bucket of buttons on the console near the front door (I can't take credit for this idea. I saw it somewhere a while ago but can't for the life of me remember where). Every time Dash does something worth rewarding (gets dressed without a fuss, eats all his veggies, helps clean up after himself, shares with his friends) he gets to choose a button from the bucket and drop it into the jar. Once he has ten buttons in the jar he gets to trade them in for a reward (probably a toy, but it could be anything).

But as the button jar giveth, so does it taketh away. Every tantrum or insolent act results in the removal of a button from the jar.

It's slow going.

This was the jar on Saturday morning.

This was the jar on Saturday night.