Mommy Monday: Taking Away Rewards

Are you against rewarding your children?

I am not talking about rewarding with praise and hugs, but with prizes, treats, toys, and more?

I am not. I am not above "rewards" or bribes. :)

In order to potty train my daughter she got M&Ms. For months she got M&Ms. She doesn't get M&Ms anymore, she is finally expected to go on her own.

The past 2 nights she has kept her diaper dry the entire night.

My 4 year old still gets up every night to go to the bathroom, she can't hold her bladder that long.... anyway, back to my story...

My little Cara kept her diaper dry for 2 days so I told her I would let her pick out a prize. We walked around and around the store and she picked out a $1 pack of princess markers. She doesn't have any of her own markers and she was soooo excited to get these.

She held tight to them the entire shopping trip. She barely let the cashier scan them so we could pay for them. She was not letting these markers go.

When we got in the car she was happy as can be. A few minutes later I hear the 4 year old saying, "uh oh mommy, look at Cara."

Thats right, I ended up taking away her freshly earned reward. I hate when I have to do this.

We will try tomorrow to let her play with them again. This time I will supervise and give her paper to color on. Thankfully they are washable!