About a year ago we started a "Kindness Counter". It hangs in our kitchen and we use it to keep track of the nice things the boys do without being asked. Things like: sharing your snack, letting the other be/choose/go "first" (trust me, being "first" is huge right now), being positive and encouraging with each other.
It also works in reverse...you can loose "Kindness Points" for doing unkind things, too. Things like: riding your baby brother like a horse, chasing your sibling with the hose on full blast while he's screaming/crying, and trying to pee in the toilet while the other happens to already be using the toilet. One step forward, two steps back :)
But they finally broke 100 last month!
When we began there was no prize or reward offered. I told them that they don't get "treats" for being kind. You should be kind for kindness sake. The act of flipping the cards to the next number when a point is earned proved to be all the incentive they need. They love it. And the shame of being the one to lose points is a good enough motivator to try to be kind.
However, once we hit 100, I felt like a little acknowledgment was due. That's a lot of kindness. So I surprised them with a chocolate Skyscraper from Winstead's. They had never seen anything so grand.
We barely put a dent in it, but the boys were in sweet, brain-freeze heaven until they couldn't take another bite. We ended up leaving with three to-go cups of chocolate shake to put in the freezer when we got home.
And we'll continue to work on the way we interact with each other...one kind act at a time.
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