Onna's "Bus" Incentive Plan

I've "fought" with Onna for all of this school year and most of last school year to "hurry up" in the mornings. NOTHING seemed to work. It was no worry of hers if I was late for work. So after much thought, and some discussion with her pre-school teacher, I modified the program that they use at her school (and in kindergarten). Although it's mainly for mornings, it is an all-day program. It's coming in handy. I like it, and I think she does too. Here's how it works:



Onna chose to have a firetruck instead of a bus like they have a daycare. When the bus is on green, everything is great. Onna has full privileges. If it stays on green all day, she gets a small prize from the prize box and gets to cross of a number for a big prize.


Uh, oh. Onna had to move her "bus" to yellow. This means that she won't get a prize for the day and won't get to cross off a number. It also serves as a warning that she's getting very close to RED.


BIG UH OH! Onna had to move her "bus" to RED! This means TIME-OUT on the "naughty blanket". It also means no candy or treats for the rest of the day. With making good decisions after her time-out she does have the chance to earn her way back to yellow.

Onna modeling the "naughty blanket." Usually she's not this happy when she's on it.

Onna and one of her small prizes.

Onna and a big prize. She has to have 5 green days to earn a big prize.

So far she has done super with this. On the days she's been really sick, we took a break from the buses (I threatened it on a few occasions). We have had ONE day that she ended up on red, and I think two that she's had to go to yellow. Otherwise it's been GREEN. We started it about a month ago, so she's done really well, I think.

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Last night, was the Parade of Lights here in town. We'd planned on having her fire truck in it. Dad and I had put Christmas light on it and everything, but with her being sick and the weather being so cold I decided that she couldn't do it. John, being the great guy that he is, decided that she still needed to be in the parade. He pulled a few strings, and we ended up riding with him in one of the real firetrucks. She complained the WHOLE time!

"I'm bored!"

"Where's SANTA?!"

"I want to see FROSTY!"

But then when we got home, we went over to my parents' house and she told them that it was "Thousand fun!"

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Tomorrow is her birthday party. She seems to be feeling better. She's not coughing anymore, and she's eating regular food. Hopefully we are over the worst of it. Now if we can keep her out of the cold weather (that's a LONG STORY for another post), maybe we can keep her healthy!!

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Today, I'm decorating her cakes. I'm doing a firetruck and a badge. I also have a cake for someone else to do. I'd like to clean my house a little bit, and maybe get a few Christmas decorations out... well see. A nap sounds good too.