The Treasure Box

In an effort to get Natalie to mind her parents, we've created a positive reinforcement star chart. Every time she minds (the first time) she gets a star. When she gets to 10 stars she gets to visit the treasure chest. Sometimes collecting 10 stars takes a day and a half. Sometimes it takes a week and a half.

The treasure chest is filled with little things from the dollar bin at Target, "coupons" for cupcake making with Mommy and trips to ice cream with Daddy, suckers and smarties and various other little goodies that we know Natalie will salivate over.

Whenever she earns a trip to the treasure chest, she empties the ENTIRE chest of all its contents, lines up the prospective prizes on the floor and deliberates and deliberates over what she'll select. This can take a while. There have been some biggies in there (a "coupon" for a trip to a new aquarium in town) that she's passed up at first and some really little ones (like a plastic flower pinwheel she already had 2 of) that she snatched up without hesitation.

It's been hilarious to see her go about the selection process. The coupons?...yeah, we've realized she's not all that interested in delayed gratification . I'd have to drop what I was doing (including Audrey) that very minute and start making cupcakes with her immediately in order for that little paper promise to win against bubbles that smell like strawberries.




Here's to hoping for a week with lots of treasure hunting!