Motivational M&M's

When I potty trained Zach I began with the "Potty Train in a Day Method," which actually took about six months. It was a very frustrating time and the bad mom came out a lot. We would be in the bathroom and I would ask him if he needed to go. His response was always no, and then he would proceed to step out onto the carpet and pee. I think the combo of new house/new carpet/new baby brother was not a good mix.

I was one of those, "I'm not going to give my child candy as a reward" moms. However, after the hugs and kisses and the "happy potty dance reward" didn't work, I thought, well maybe a baking size M&M would be alright. And alright it was. One for pee, and three for poop, and IT WORKED!

Ethan mostly potty trained himself by watching Zach, but I was also more relaxed and used Pull-Ups a lot more. He did need a little encouragement and it came in the form of Gummy Bears.

Now, I often find myself immediately doling out the highest consequence possible to get the fastest result... but that doesn't always work, and frustration levels increase on both sides. To reign myself in, and in hope of helping the boys with some behavioral issues, we have created the M&M BANK.

I am not above paying them for good behavior but they took the M&M thing on first bite. Maybe when that wears out we'll move on to cash.

Each morning the boys get 5 M&M's. If any of the below behaviors are demonstrated one M&M is taken away.

I picked their three worst behaviors at the moment for each to work on and they will change with time. Now if one of the boys is abusing the other and the victim does not retaliate they earn the M&M that was taken away. On the flip side, three M&Ms can be earned for an act of service, sharing, playing nicely, reverence during family prayer, or if they obey the first time we ask.

I wanted something visual they could see they were earning and that wouldn't take long to get. They get to eat their earnings at the end of the week during popcorn and a movie. Zach totally crushed Ethan in the earnings the first week. The total was significant but I still don't think it amounted to one regular size bag. The bad behaviors only somewhat improved this first week, but the service and helpfulness increased quite a bit, so I do call that a success.

Now I just need a way to help the boys be reverent in Sacrament meeting. It seems like the older they get the worse they are, not better.