Hi, everyone! I’m Julie from Less-Than-Perfect Life of Bliss, where I blog about everything from crafts & decorating to family & faith. I’m a stay-at-home mom to 4 great kids & a wife to an awesome guy that supports my creative addiction & hardly ever rolls his eyes anymore at my crazy ideas. Feel free to stop over &see me anytime because I love meeting new readers & you never know what I’ll be up to next!
No, it’s not a tongue twister. It’s just an idea I had for our recent trip that I thought some of you might like. Just file this under “Projects to do with those scrapbook supplies since I’m so far behind on scrapbooking I’ll never catch up”.
I call these Kid Clips, they’re for traveling with kids. And they worked like little charms for us.
First of all, I should explain that we operate on the “Sweets for the Sweet” Philosophy in our house. That simply means that desserts & special treats are reserved for those who are kind & sweet. My kids know that if they say something ugly or mean to their brother or sister (or to their parents), they won’t be getting dessert that day, including sodas or slushies, should we pass a Sonic at Happy Hour. And trust me, they do not like unhappy Happy Hours. Yes, even my older kids have to follow this plan & it definitely works.
So, with a few stickers & scraps of paper, I made these little clips for my visor as a constant reminder of who was doing a good job in the kindness department.
The rule was simple: as long as they were doing well, the clip stayed up. But, if anyone made a bad choice & decided to be ugly or whiny, their clip came down. And if the clip came down, they would miss out on the next fun thing, whether it be a pack of gum at the next gas stop, an ice cream cone, getting to choose the next movie or having extra time on the iPad.
The amazing thing was, every clip stayed up the entire 16 hours of our trip up there. Trust me–I was impressed. The way back was just a little less blissful, but only one time did I have to remove a clip. I won’t mention who that was, but she’s short & her name ends in “a”. She did not like seeing her clip come down, so she worked hard & got it back up there pretty quickly.
These clips worked so well for us, I think I may just keep them up there. Do you have any more road trips planned for the summer? What kinds of tips do you have for keeping the peace?
~ Julie
I only have 1 child ( grandchild ) I’m raising as my own but we are going on a 30 hour trip to s. Carolina from nebraska. Do you have any suggestions on things to keep her busy? Did I mention she has ADHD?
I know about car games and all that and her DS to bring along but we have not done a trip this long before Please any suggestions?