How to upset a mom in less than 5 seconds? It's when someone tries to tell you how to raise your child. Well, yes, it is oversimplified to explain the child's misconduct is either the result of the parental problem or wholly caused by the child genre.  Some children have resistant behavior like my 5-year old boy.  He doesn't care about anything I tell him to do.  For instances, when I try to force a macrobiotic diet on him, he sees no reason why he has to give up his innocent comforting desire to eat candies.  Children like playing games. I had read the "points system" game from a book and tried to play this game with him. The result is encouraging.

The game applied to the kid age between 4 to 7 years old. Every positive performance of the kid will give a token to record the points. The child redeems the gift as a reward according to the number of tokens had been collected.

1. Get a box of tokens with different colors. Mark the points on the tokens.  If the child is small, all tokens mark the same point.  If he is 6 to 8 years old, different colors of the tokens have different points. For example: The white color token represents 1 point, the red color token represents 2 points, and the blue color token represents 3 points.
2. Tell the child he is doing great and you want to reward him more. This game is a fun way to create a system of guideline for offering the rewards.
3. Find a box for tokens storage.  You and the kid try to decorate the box together to add the fun.
4. Make a list of rewards with the child together. The list should include both the normal and special items. The number of items should be around 10 to 15. The redemption list should include something normal and something special.  The items in the redemption list such as the following :

• Go to watch movie
• Go to skiing
• Visit the friend who is living far away
• Ride the bike
• Play video game
• Buy special toys

    5. Make a list with the child together for the "things-to-do" items such as

• Set up the table for dinner
• Tidy up the table
• Tidy up the toys
• Brush the teeth before sleep at night
• Go to bed on time
• Get up on time
• Dress up on his/her own
  

6.  Define each item from the "things-to-do" list is carrying how many points. The child obtains more points for the difficult task and fewer points for the easy task. 

7.  The score tokens would put into that storage box.

8.  Allow the child to redeem the rewards in the weekly base or monthly base.

Don't leave without takeaway the free e-book for finding more games to play with the child.

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Inspiration Monday, Nifty Thrifty Sunday, Motivate Me Monday, Inspire Me Monday, A Round Tuit

When I was in my early 20s, I thought every traveling was once in a lifetime event. I loved solo traveling.  The beauty of solo traveling was offering you complete freedom to decide where to go, where to eat and where to stay. You made all the decisions to control your journey.  Someone might warn you the possibility of danger, threat, and sometimes loneliness, but is there anything on earth can 100% guarantee for sure?   I liked to experience the skydive jumping for 360 degrees bird-eye view of the magnificent landscape; or enjoyed the trekking and boating in Nepal; or followed the footsteps of ancient Inca in Machu Picchu, Peru.  The adventure was out there. It represented fun, excitement, dangerous and risky.

I felt wonderful when traveling alone. As mention from an African proverb that “if you want to go fast, go alone; if you want to go far, go together”. When I was in my early 30s, I loved to travel with buddies visiting Europe, South America, and Asia . Friendship is a source of happiness, isn’t it? Even though it was not funny to carry the heavy backpack, walking miles to the motel where there was no toilet flush, but it made a lot of difference to experience the good and bad from the adventure with my friend together.  If your boyfriend was your travel-mate, it added more fun to your journey (but it would be a nightmare sometimes).  It would be great to hang out on the street of Buenos Aires.  I liked to see people dancing the tango out there, touching faces, man leading and woman following. They were so sexy that attracted you dancing with them together.

Family vacation has become our annual family event. Travel has meant an Easter egg-riddled journey for the kids, but for me, it means anxiety more than excitement.  Right from the start planning and preparing for the journey, I can't get over the worries about non-refundable fares, tight schedule, security issues, or any other inconvenience unexpected things can be happened along the journey.  The backpack has changed to Samsonite. Throughout the journey, the kids are talking non-stop, eating takes us longer than others. But when I find the kids are having so much fun, I feel the contentment come along with their laughs and smiles.

Parenting today is a complex and fascinating adventure. What do you think about your motherhood journey? Excitement or Contentment? Or both?