A Good Problem to Have

In December, after weeks of not-so-great behavior and a couple total emotional breakdowns, we implemented a new discipline system for Elliot. Time!

The new system goes like this...

• Elliot earns time by getting himself ready for school in the morning. The faster he gets ready, the more time he earns. He has to get dressed, eat breakfast, clean up after himself, brush his teeth, and feed the cat. (What used to take 60 minutes, now takes 20!)
  
• Elliot loses time by not doing what he's told. Instead of repeating myself and getting frustrated, I just calmly tell him he lost time. (I've stopped yelling! It's been awesome!)
  
• Elliot can spend his time by choosing to stay up 30 minutes (max) past his normal bedtime to do something with Mom or Dad (usually a board or card game). We figured out that he can't stay up late on consecutive nights because he turns into a super grump.
  

For the past two weeks, his number of earned minutes has skyrocketed. He steadily carries more than an hour's worth of minutes. Elliot had 144 minutes earned as of this morning! I offered to let him trade in minutes for something bigger. For instance, he can turn in 90 minutes for a movie (not on a school night). So far, he hasn't taken me up on this. Matt says we just need to be meaner!