Stars

Some of you asked me to post if I found anything that would help with the kids behavior. Well I've tried a few different things. Insisting on eye contact was the first. For some reason kids have a hard time with eye contact, but as long as I take my time with what I want to say, repeat what I'm saying when they look away, and continue reminding them to look at me so I know they are listening and then ask them to repeat what I said then that helps a little bit.

As far as meal time, one thing that has helped us lately is a star chart. Nathan made one for the kids. For each finished meal they get to put a star on their chart. When they get to the end of the chart they get a little prize, after so many charts they get a big prize. Megan decided she wanted a piece of candy for her little prize and a donut for her big prize. It's much cheaper when she decides her prizes than if I come up with something. I was prepared to buy her an umbrella, she's been asking for one for months.

Bedtime, well, I haven't really found anything for that yet. While we were in Texas I just let the kids stay up as late as they wanted because I couldn't get them to go to bed unless I was sleeping with them. I decided it wasn't worth it and just let them fall asleep in front of the tv.

So that's it so far. Bedtime hasn't been too big of an issue here in Ohio. Nathan and I have kept them up later because of various reasons, firework shows, special movie treats, and other random things and so they've been falling asleep in the car or on their own quite a bit. And of course there's Emma who is just the perfect baby and sleeps quite a bit still. I'll let you know if I find anything that works well for Megan and Jeremy. Don't forget to reply with your tricks for getting kids to behave, eat, and go to bed! We could all use the hints, tricks, and help!