Problem solving makes me happy! If there’s a problem, I want to find a solution rather than sitting and being frustrated, angry, or miserable because of it. And so it goes with our first problem of the summer.
Problem: the kids leaving the lights on . . . ALL THE TIME!
It only took me a couple days of feeling like I was always hollering for lights to be turned off or walking down the hallway myself to turn them off. Our kids are actually really great about turning the lights off . . . when they’re asked. But I was already tired of asking.
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Solution: A 5 pound bag of PEZ candy
Here’s how it works! We bought a giant bag of PEZ candy to go with a cute Perry the Platypus PEZ dispenser that we already had and set the kids down for a talk:
At random times during the day (usually a couple times each day), we will yell out “Light Check”! If your bedroom light is off, you get a PEZ. If all the bedroom lights AND hall light AND bathroom lights are off, everyone gets 2 candies.
And just like that, problem solved! After only a couple of days, most light checks now result in candy being handed out. And hopefully, by the time we finish off that giant bag of PEZ, habits will be in place and we won’t need to offer an incentive anymore. But for now, it helps and it adds a little fun to our summer.
How do your kids do with turning off the lights? Are they as forgetful as mine have been? Have you found a great solution or will you be getting your 5 pound bag of PEZ soon?
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