While I do love wearing black, the thought of all that strenuous exercise scares me. I'd hate to pull a muscle so close to my trip to Singapore.
It's a system of rewards (Positive Pete's) and penalties (Negative Nelly's), which they receive for behavior and good work during the school day. Earn a certain number of points and you get to visit the prize box. It's a fairly simple rewards system that the kids go nuts for.
The best part is the website that allows parents to track their child's behavior and see where they've received positive and negative feedback on a daily basis.
Not really, while that's certainly a cool feature, the best part is the fact that Miss7 is obssessed with getting "Positive Pete's". So much so, that she won't shut up about it at home, and now the Twin Tornado want in on the action.
So in preparation for the school holidays from hell - the first forecast of semi-regular rain and crappy weather, plus our patio has just been pulled down so The Feral Threesome can't play outside, and #1Hubby will be away for part of it, and did I mention it's TWO WHOLE WEEKS of non-stop parenting OMG!? - I have a plan.
Miss7 has drawn up her very own "School Holidays Dojo" and is merrily giving out Positive Pete's and Negative Nelly's to the Twin Tornado, and advising me on when she thinks she's warranted them herself.
So far - and yes, it is only day 1 of the official school holidays and I'm totally calling it way too early - all is going well.
The second the kids get shouty, I whip out my marker pen and all is silent as I hover over the names on the fridge and they fret over who's going to get points on or off.
We stocked up on an abundance of $2 shop crap to fill our prize box with, and every day the little darling with the most Positive Pete's will get to choose a prize.
Seriously, for $25 this is quite possibly the cheapest parenting aide since the Zhu Zhu Pets who used to scare the Twin Tornado into submission. Certainly cheaper than the Foxtel cable TV and wine.
So far I've only had to hide in the bathroom playing Candy Crush Saga on my mobile twice. That's a record low.
Just how is the family scoring on the Dojo tally so far?
My own Dojo points :
Positive Pete from Miss7 for bringing leftover school sausage sizzle home for dinner last Friday night, and making lunch into dinner too.
Positive Pete from Miss4 for letting her watch TV (this was really a win-win in my opinion, as I got loads of Facebooking done while she was being entertained by the electronic babysitter).
Negative Nelly from Mstr4 because I didn't fix his sore blonde hair.....you just can't please everyone.
Negative Nelly from #1Hubby for not finding his comical attempt to dry hump me while I was getting something out of the fridge both hilariously amusing and dead sexy. Again, you just can't please everyone.
Dojo points I have doled out :
Positive Pete to Miss7 for managing the construction of Friday's sausage sizzles while I was otherwise occupied. Read: hiding in the bathroom drinking wine and playing Candy Crush Saga.
Negative Nelly to Miss4 for screaming BULLSHITTTT! at a helicopter flying overhead while she was at the letterbox in full auditory range of our neighbours.
Negative Nelly to Mstr4 for being a whiney bitch. But obviously I didn't put it so bluntly. Instead, I told him it was for using the voice that makes Mummy's ears hurt while banging on and on about his supposedly sore blonde hair.
Positive Pete to #1Hubby for the continual provisions of hydration. I suspect it had something to do with his attempts to romance me earlier in the evening, but whatever.
