Rowzee Bucks

I've been wanting to post about our little reward system we have going on in our house and we had such a good night last night as a result of it, that I thought I had to share about it. We borrowed an idea from a friend who has "done raised" her kids and they've have turned out pretty awesome, so we thought she was a good source for advice and suggestions :) Her family had a system called "Bernard Bucks", in keeping with their last name. They used fake money and rewarded their kids for good behavior. Beyond that, I'm not sure what their rewards were or how easily they doled out the dinero. I took the idea and made it my own.

Rich wanted to call ours "Rowzee Rubles". We decided it was a little cheesy. So we just call ours Rowzee Bucks. I bought a couple packs of fake dollars at the dollar store and I keep them in my kitchen cupboard. I also keep a little "wallet" for each girl - they are little plastic note card holders. We give out Rowzee Bucks for anything from an extra kind word or going out of their way to help out, to helping Dad weed in the yard. Avery has been working on a ton of Scripture memory this summer as a participant in our local Bible Bee. Every Saturday she gets a Rowzee Buck for every verse card she can recite perfectly, as a way of reviewing and rewarding her efforts. Allie gets one for each verse she can say, too.

So, as for the rewards... I have a bin with various prizes all priced. I don't spend more than $2 or $3 for most of them. I also have coupons for different things the girls can buy, such as a date with Daddy to Jamba Juice or a trip to the carousell. It depends on how much the prize costs me as to how much I "charge" for them. A $1 ball from Walmart cost the girls 5 Rowzee Bucks. A date with Daddy to dinner at the mexican restaurant cost them 30 Rowzee bucks. We open the Rowzee Buck Store most weekends if we get around to it.

This system is working really well for us. It is hopefully teaching them the value of money and the value of saving for something they'd like to buy in the future. It gives me a chance to reward the girls with something tangible when I'm pleased with their behavior and a chance for them to earn something. I will say that there are times when I take away Rowzee bucks, too. I try not to do it very often, but there are times when it seems like an appropriate punishment.

Last weekend the girls each bought a date with one of us with their earnings. Avery bought a date with me to Limeberry (self-serve frozen yogurt) and Allie bought a date with Rich to Jamba Juice. Monday was a bit of a long day and Avery had had an especially hard day with me. After dinner we got in different cars and headed off on our dates. Rich says it was the best time he's had with Allie, just the two of them. Avery and I talked of school coming up and she crawled into my lap after she finished her yogurt since it had made her cold and we professed undying love to each other once again and all was well. We had such a good time, puts me in mind to start a regular date night once a month. We could switch kids every month. I'm thinking the first Monday of the month and spend no more than $5 on each date.

Thank God for my husband and kids! I'm humbled at the thought of how much He's blessed me. He is so good!