Consequence Ideas

I was talking to a friend yesterday who was having a hard time coming up with good consequences for her kids when they forget to do something they have already been taught or told to do.  Then I came home and saw a comment on this blog about a similar problem.   I thought it might be helpful to say what I do, but I would also love any comments from others in what works for them and hopefully we can learn from each others' ideas.

My "fall back" consequence, or one that I usually go to, is for them to find 10 items to clean up.  I did write on a little notecard some exchanges for items if there are no more items to pick up.  That probably doesn't make any sense, so here is what the circumstance might look like.

A child comes in the house and takes off her coat and leaves it on the railing.  I say, "Oops, you forgot to hang your coat in the closet so hang it up and pick up 10 items."  The rules are that the items can't be in their own zone or room or something that we were about to do for family work anyway.  If they don't see anything that needs to be picked up they can look at the notecard that I taped next to their work lists.  It has ideas of things they can do that count as "items".

Clean out and re-organize one drawer = 5 items
Clean out and re-organize on cupboard = 10 items
Clean out and re-organize one closet shelf = 5 items
Clean the baseboard on one wall = 2 items
Dust the blinds with at damp cloth for one window = 20 items
Pull two weeds = 1 item
Scrub one dirty toilet = 10 items
Wipe off an entire door (front and back) and trim = 10 items
Take out a full garbage can and replace the bag = 5 items
Ask mom what else needs to be done = ? items

They also know that it needs to be dirty before they decide to clean it (I don't want them cleaning the same baseboard every time).

If they have earned 10 items for the same thing several times, I might up the items the next time they do it (without warning) since the consequence wasn't big enough to change the action before.  In other words I might give 20 or 30 items for leaving shoes on the floor if it's happened multiple times.

The way I have chosen to help them work faster (getting their morning list done on time or cleaning the kitchen before the timer beeps) is that they get an item or more for every minute that goes past the allotted time.  Right now, morning lists and breakfast (Bud is in charge of making breakfast this week and Spice of making the smoothie) need to be done by 8 am.  I know they are done when a child says, "Mom, do you need anything else?" and then, "Okay, I'm done, will you check my work?"  At this time, I check their work and if it is done right, I look at the clock.  If it is past 8am - they get to pick up as many items as the number of minutes past.

The first time I did this, I gave no warnings since they had already been taught to do it before 8.  Around 8:20, Bud came and said, "I'm done with my morning list."  I said, "No you're not, you forgot the last two items.  He said, "Oh yeah, do you need anything else?"  I asked him to get the baby dressed.  Then he said, "Okay, I'm done, will you come check my work."  I did and it passed so I looked at the clock and it said about 8:35 so he got 35 items to pick up.  The other kids saw what happened so they hurried and finished and got to pick up the number of items they earned.  The next day, everyone had their morning list done by 8.

In the kitchen - since they only have 10 minutes to have it cleaned (15 for whoever has dishes - I'll help if there are a lot of dishes) - they earn 5 items per minute that they go over.  I'm enjoying not having to say, "Hurry guys, you only have 5 minutes left", etc.  I just let the timer do the teaching and I stay quiet.  This is much more effective.  They are learning so fast!

The same rule applies to when I ring the bell for a meal.  They come right away and wash their hands and set the table.  If they don't, they earn 10 items or more depending on the circumstances.

I also use "time-out" as a consequence.  I usually use this for contention (and then they try again after the time-out) or for my 4 year old when I can tell that it's going to take work to get him to pick up 10 items.  Sometimes I'll use it on my older kids for varying reasons.  One of my friends uses this as her fall-back consequence for even her older children because they are so good at working that doing extra jobs is not a hard enough consequence for them, and they really dislike time-outs.  You just have to know what works best for your kids.

In her class, Keri said she gives a big extra job (to the older kids who are responsible enough to do it) if they disobey a direct instruction (an instruction like "go to time-out" or "pick up 10 items").  I've done this a couple of times.  Yesterday, I told Spice to stop practicing the piano and come help us empty the refrigerator.  She asked to finish the song she was on.  I said yes.  When she finished that song, she kept on playing a couple more songs.  Then she came in to help.  We were pretty much done by then so she earned the job of wiping out the fridge while I washed the drawers and shelves in the sink.  

Anyway, I hope that helps.  Does anyone have other consequence ideas?