Good Girl Chart

Alrighty, I started this post almost 2 weeks ago. It was supposed to be about the effectiveness of Good Girl Chart. But then something went wrong. Terribly wrong.

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You see, Molly was having some behavior issues. She was basically being mean, especially to me. So I whipped up a Good Girl Chart.

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lMolly is very motivated by stickers and rewards so if a behavior is getting out of control, a few weeks with the Good Girl Chart and things are as right as rain. And it worked again this time...for the first week. See:

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I was busy patting myself on the back for being an effective parent when things started heading south. Last week, Molly's behavior began to deteriorate: meltdowns, tantrums, screaming all day long. I don't know how so much ugliness could come out of something so cute.

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No Good Girl Chart on the planet was going to change this behavior. In fact, the chart had so many sad faces on it by Wednesday that I threw it away. Obviously not working! What the heck was wrong?

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On Friday I got my answer. Molly was sick. She tossed her cookies, started coughing and got big circles under her eyes all in an hour's time. I was relieved. NOT that she was sick, of course, but that the horrible behaviors were connected to something tangible and not the start of the terrible threes (my greatest fear).

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Since Molly has been sick, I've received lots of hugs, kisses and I love yous. She's actually been quite pleasant, in a pathetic sort of way. We are doing everything we can to make her feel comfortable and she seems to be getting better. Hopefully after she recovers, the sweet Molly will remain with us!

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Here are some pics from the past few weeks for your viewing pleasure...

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Each day that Molly received 3 or more stickers on her Good Girl Chart, she got to a reward. Hmmm, what to use as a reward? Molly's cousin Allison handed down a princess dress up box a long time ago. I am not a big fan of princesses (no offense to all of you princess lovers out there) so kind of forgot that I had it in the basement. But desperate times call for desperate measures so I hauled it up and used it for a reward. Each night for 30 minutes Molly could select 1 princess outfit to wear.

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Here's Cinderella:And Snow White: And Sleeping Beauty:

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A few unrelated pictures of our recent trip to the zoo. A special treat...Daddy got to join us!

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And finally a few shots of Molly looking cute in a new dress that was sent to her by Aunt Shell. Molly was so excited to get a surprise package in the mail. Thanks Sis, you made my kid's day!