Target Calendars

The elementary school teacher lives on in me! Haha  I love creating seasonal calendars and charts and the small effort it requires is regained in the motivation of the kids.   It truly makes large family organization easier and creates a winning spirit in the home.  After the kids completed their Target chart for Disneyland (each earned $150 to $180) I realized there were several unexpected bonuses from all that work!  

Last month my kids really lacked motivation around the area of chores and a real lull in their spirits set in from the dark wintry cold weather.  I told my husband we needed to come up with a really exciting outing about 8 to 12 weeks away (somewhere warm and sunny) that they can work towards.  We have desired to go see our cousins (my brother and sister and their families live in California) for forever and every summer when they leave Seattle we are like, we will come visit you! Soon! Next spring! But it never has happened.  Well not until I made this handy dandy Target chart.

 

At our weekly family meeting they came up with the idea (or so they thought) of going to spend spring break with their cousins.  Since we had done a Target chart already we all reflected on the benefits of working and saving up for something.  So briefly here is a list of unexpected fruits from using their allowance to do something together as a family.

1. Builds family togetherness- a common excitement that is shared week after week encouraging and helping everyone get there is a huge step in creating  both unity and positive energy in the home.

2. Teaches stick-with-it-ness as they see the Target colored bars rising towards the loooong term goal over the course of weeks and weeks.  This is a BIG deal for these younger kids to experience.

3. Delays gratification and prevents them from wanting to shop for goofy toys and candy although they still do that some.  Just not as much.

4. Allows for an encounter of the “work hard, then play” lesson of life.

5. Teaches appreciation for the trip, cost of things like an airplane ticket, and value of money.

6. Provides the experience of a great accomplishment like, “I did this. I can do hard things”.

Of course doing chores teaches kids some basics principles like responsibility, importance of contributing, family pride, etc.  The Target chart just adds a flavor of simple family fun and excitement and togetherness that every family flourishes under.  An obvious point to all you parents is that Tom and I would be paying for the kids anyway so this process is an added bonus towards teaching and experiencing the above.