How to raise kids...

I am the mother of 2 children, a 3 year old son and a 7 year old daughter with ADHD. Of course my 7 yr old is a real handful. This is what we've started to do lately and it seems to be helping a lot.

I gave each of my kids a mason jar to decorate with stickers. I bought a big pack of cheap poker chips from Target.

They earn poker chips for good behavior, using good manners, and being kind and thoughtful to others.

They lose a chip for breaking any rules and for not doing what they are told the 1ST TIME they are asked.

The chips are worth rewards, for example, 10 chips = a toy from the dollor store, 20 chips = one on one time with the parent of their choice playing what ever they want, within reason. Those are just 2 examples...you'd come up with whatever appeals your own child.

Between my daughters medication, and this method, it has really helped her to stop and think about her actions BEFORE they happen which has always been a problem for her with the ADHD.

Hope that helps

Absolutely no toys are allowed in the living room. That has been my rule since my girls were born!

If someone knocks at my door, at least they get an impression that I know what the heck I'm doing.

(Just don't look at the bedrooms! LOL) The girls have a "weekly bedroom cleaning" chore, unless needed earlier. The oldest one really doesn't get her room too bad, though. We make our lil' one get a trash bag every now and then to throw away toys that she doesn't play with anymore. We make her do it b/c that way she makes the decision on what to keep, and is happy with her decsion. Now, if I see something in the trash that doesn't need to be there, I'll take it out. (Ok, I'm a pack rat....lol), or if I see she needs to throw something away that she's keeping, I'll ask her why she is keeping it (and give my reasons of why not to). She usually sees my point of view, and throws it away, but ever now and then, she'll insist. So, I say, I better not see it on the floor, or I will throw it away. lol

Thursday evening, we had to sit at a football game & it was raining off and on. My daughter slid on her bottom all across the stands, even though I told her not to. Then, she started splashing the water off the stands up in the air, and had to tell her stop several times. Then she wouldn't sit still and ended up falling, and hurting her elbow & rear end. Luckily, we were on the very bottom seat. I did walk her down to where we were underneath the stands a little and told her she was to face the fencing. Liked that helped....she kept moving around & giving me dirty looks.

(Ok, what am I supposed to do, whip her A** in front of people?!?!??!...No the holier than thou no-spank freaks would think I was beating her.....HELLO! BEATINGS AND SPANKINGS ARE TWO DIFFERENT THINGS!!!!) I wouldn't dare "beat" my child! (And don't give me a "Dr. Phil" lecture on why spanking is bad for your child. I was spanked, and I think I am well disciplined because of it. My brain is not warped, and I do not require medication for post-traumatic stress disorder!)


This is going to drive me nuts before she gets out of my house! 18? 19? 35? The oldest one was so calm, minded, etc. You didn't even have to tell her no, you just had to look at her. If you gave her that no look, she stopped whatever she was doing immediately, and most of the time she wasn't doing anything that really needed to be seriously stopped.

I love my girls so much, and we are a very, very close family. My girls know mommy & daddy love them. (Every picture my lil' one makes is always a smiley face...no negative drawings.) We are always telling them we love them, hugging them, and making sure they feel loved.

It's just when we get out in public I think my daugter sets out to make a fool of & embarrass the $%#@ out of mom!

She has calmed down over the years. I think this is the payback I get from my hubby watching her during the day for 2 years when she was 3 & 4! (I worked days, he worked nights then.)

However, I knew I was in trouble when I told her no at 6 months old, and she grabbed my face with both of her hands & planted a big (open-mouthed) kiss on me! She has been a kiss up ever since when it comes to trying to get out of trouble!

I just hope I can take all of this. I hope she grows out of it even more. If she doesn't need Ritalin, or a natural calming supplement, then I need Valium!



(By the way, is it just me or does "raising kids remind anyone of baby goats? LOL) My senior year English teacher would not allow us to say raise kids.....He said, "You raise kids, and you rear children!" Thats why I usually say, "kiddos" now, trying to make it not sound like I'm talking about baby goats! LOL

Absolutely no toys are allowed in the living room. That has been my rule since my girls were born!


Thursday evening, we had to sit at a football game & it was raining off and on. My daughter slid on her bottom all across the stands, even though I told her not to. Then, she started splashing the water off the stands up in the air, and had to tell her stop several times. Then she wouldn't sit still and ended up falling, and hurting her elbow & rear end. Luckily, we were on the very bottom seat. I did walk her down to where we were underneath the stands a little and told her she was to face the fencing. Liked that helped....she kept moving around & giving me dirty looks.

Well I knew with my post I would get a reaction from those that do spank. That is fine. I am not a holier than thou do not spank your kid freak either. I was spanked with a belt, switch, whatever was grabbed in my mother's or grandmothers hand. I do not feel that made me well rounded at all. In fact I held grudges for that crap. It was a southern thing, if one grandkid messed up, we all got switched. It sucked even worse, when we had to pick our own switch from a tree. Guess that is why I don't do it. I have awful memories of it.