After months of talking about it, Mark and I have finally decided to try using a rewards chart to help tame Lainey's behavior and improve her listening (aka doing what we tell her to do without having to repeat it 100 times).
We're using a basic chart with open squares for stickers and she gets a reward when she earns five. Since Lainey is already such a sticker fiend, we bought special star stickers that are JUST for the chart. We rolled out the new "program" this morning. It got off to a rocky start, as she threw tantrums after the first two stickers because she wanted more (a perfect example of the behavior we're trying to stymie). But, by end of the night (and sticker number 7), things were going smoothly. I think this may be just the thing to get us on the right track of appropriate behavior and get off what has felt of late to be constant yelling, nagging, or punishing--no fun for anyone.
Lainey got star #5 for staying in her chair and having good manners at lunch, winning her her first reward! She chose to have her fingernails painted. She's been asking about it a lot lately, so I thought it would make a great impact. Of course, it did cause some issues later because she was afraid if she washed her hands, it would wash off the polish. That fear caused two pee accidents, because she knows she has to wash her hands after going to the bathroom. She finally believed us that the polish would stay on after bathtime when her nails were still as purple as before.
So, now that we have one day under our belts, I'm looking forward to tomorrow and seeing if this new system helps our strongwilled diva become a little more cooperative and check the tantrums at the door.
