The Point System

My friend T and  I have decided to start a point system for parenting. Remember how when you were dating (or well, maybe you still are, who knows!) and your partner did something nice for you, you would say something like "Wow, my favorite flowers in my favorite color scheme! 10 points for you!" Basically it's like that. 

You get points for being a 'good mama', like reacting calmly to the tooth paste experiment on the bathroom mirror, or you take your kid to the local park for 4 hours. You accumulate points through either fun mama activities/outings, keeping your cool in stressful situations, ect. You redeem the points for mama-check-out-time while the kids veg in front of the tube, denial of a really messy, inconvenient craft/baking activity, or losing your temper. 

So, for instance, today I made a mud pit in the backyard. The girls got super messy and dirty and had a great time playing 'old school'--no batteries, plugs, or toys. Just sticks and mud. That gets me lots of points, a few for the creative aspect, a few for the messy part, a bunch for the fact that no toys were involved, therefore expanding my kids imagination. You get the idea. 

I think the point system is important so that we remember just how often we go out of our way for our kids, and how often we strive to make their lives fun, exciting and creative. I think I'm gonna like this...