Finding our Marbles

I found a bag of floral marbles at the thrift store last time we were there, and brought them home with no real plan in mind. With two little girls in the house, I didn't need a plan- I knew they'd come in handy!

We played a little game with them, to get the girls aquainted with our stash. They had fun transferring the marbles from one bowl another. Ernie was pretty good with the tweezers and the spoon- I was impressed. Mimi favored the grab-and-dump method.

Now the marbles, and these two salad bowls, are sitting on my night stand to help us remember to be nice. If anyone in the family sees another family member do something nice, say something kind, be helpful, etc. that person will run and put a marble in the second bowl. When all the marbles are in the second bowl, we'll have a party!

I'm looking forward to this- I don't like introducing merit systems with punishments built in, so there is no threat of "knock that off or you'll lose a marble." Only positives in this game!

It's been cute. This morning after breakfast I told Ernie "I noticed you made your bed and got dressed without being asked. And thank you for playing nicely with your sister! I put marbles in the bowl."

Ernie thought that was pretty swell, so a few minutes later she came up and sweetly said "Mommy? Thank you for getting dressed!" and ran to put a marble in the bowl.