Jar-Full

I'm not an all boy expert, but I'm pretty certain competitiveness lies deep in the heart of all males.So keeping score appeals to an innate drive to win and excel.

My boys are no different than pro-athletes, CEO's, or Capitol Hill lobbyists; a win's a win. And the score goes up with each one, or in our case, the jar fills up.

I took the boys to choose out their own colors and we keep their jars in full view. Their points (pom balls) fill up when they go above and beyond what's expected of them.

Opening doors at the store, unloading the dishes without being asked, sharing a prized toy with a brother all get rewarded with a 'point'. When the jar is full, a prize is awarded; usually a trip to the Dollar Store to pick out one thing.

There is an unspoken race to fill up their jar first. While competition drives the main desire now I'm seeing this reinforce the character we are getting glimpses of. My boys aren't perfect, but they are striving for it. So when they aren't fighting over the last cookie or tackling a brother against his will, you better believe I'll being cheering on their race to fill a jar full of visual awesomeness.