Marble Jar and my New (School) Year’s Resolutions

The start of the new school year always feels like a new beginning all around.

Fresh box of crayons! Fresh start! 

With one child successfully in Kindergarten, our family entrenched in our new routine, and the first full week of school almost behind us, I feel like we can finally take a deep breath and reassess a few things.

Getting two kids up and out the door five days a week is a new thing for us, so  we… and by that I mean I… have to find little tricks and tips to make it work. Perhaps, it’s even a good time to address the things that are NOT working for us.

It’s just like making New Year’s Resolutions, except for the whole family and not just for myself. And just like New Year’s Resolutions,  it isn’t enough to just cry out “Arg! Things are going change!”  There need to be some accountability and, my favorite part, a reward.

Mike and I have talked for months about how we need to “write it all down”, “set up a chore chart”, and “get the kids involved”, only to let it slip by the wayside for lack of poster board or something equally as frivolous…

Introducing Marble Jar .

It’s a new app for the iPhone or iPad that works as a fun and positive way to reinforce GOOD behavior. It allows our family to set goals, track our progress, and celebrate accomplishments. Plus, it has a fun little interface that my kids love.

I downloaded it last week and started setting up my jars immediately!

It took three very simple steps to get started:

1. Identify the “Pain Points” in my Life

Starting small, I began the times of day which are the absolute most stressful for our family. They are Getting up/Breakfast and Dinner Time. So I set up a jar for each of these items- “Scout’s Morning Routine” and “Dinner Manners”.

(The third jar is more of an aspirational goal, but one that will take more than marbles to accomplish. It’s potty training Lou and for that, I have to make sure Mike is fully prepared.  Maybe he should have his own Marble Jar: Did Not Cave Out of Laziness and/or Freaking Out… One Meeeee-llion Marbles )

The app comes pre-loaded with some jars in order to showcase how it works. I kept the one that was labelled “Calm Mom” because it just sounded too far-fetched and foreign to me, but I suppose that IS the goal of all this project– Don’t Make Mom Crazy.

2. Think Through the Steps

This part was easy. For example, when it comes to “Dinner Manners” , I just listed the things I repeat so often that I sometimes answer the phone with them.

“Sit down!”

“Stop fighting/talking/yelling and eat!”

“Get back in your chair!”

Restating each into a happy, little likable “to do” is far more pleasant. It reinforces independence, confidence, and responsibility in the kids, and keeps me from having to pointlessly repeat myself over and over again. I just say, “You’re making me lose my marbles!”, which works on multiple levels.

Then, I set up some reasonable goals for the week. Seven marbles for each action for the seven  times a week we eat dinner. Easy.  Then, as each goal is accomplished, a marble is added to the jar. Once the “jar” is full for the week, the kids get a pre-determined reward.

You will notice how my children have not earned any marbles this week. It’s a learning process… for all of us.

3. Come Up With Logical Rewards

What is the logical and natural reward for minding your dinner manners in the Duffy household?

Yeah. Yeah. Don’t judge. If I spend less time having to tell them to how to behave, then maybe, just maybe, they will have just enough time to watch a show before bath time and I can get the dishes washed before midnight. See, we ALL win!

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Marble Jar is available for the iPhone/iPad and it typically just $2.99. This week, it is being offered for FREE in the App Store. So, don’t just take my word on it. Try it for yourself!

The app is geared towards kids ages 2-12, but like the “Calm Mom” example, it works just as well for helping the parents keep on track with their own goals like exercising or getting stuff done around the house.

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Remember: Leave a comment on this post for an additional entry into our Fill the Backpack giveaway. Each member of Splash Creative Media is offering a backpack overstuffed with over $750 worth of  Back to School merchandise.  Enter to win on any or on all of our blogs.

Disclosure: This post was sponsored by Marble Jar, a fun parenting tool and app that enables positive encouragement, as part of  Splash Creative Media as part of the Fill the Backpack Campaign. The thoughts, ideas, and opinions expressed in this post are my own and do not reflect those of WinWin Apps, Marble Jar, or Splash Creative Media. 

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