If you’re anything like me, you need to dish out a redirection or consequence at least a hundred times once a day.  My kids are 2 and 7 (almost 8!), and we have a need for this.  Regularly.  Sigh…

Most of the time, my guys are pretty well behaved and don’t need major punishments, but we run a fairly tight ship, and they need to know that their choices will have consequences, good or bad.

That being said, we have found that we are needed to come up with some creative parenting because our usual bag ‘0 tricks was not longer working.  Lucky for me, I have brilliant friends, and one of them (shout out to Kristi Sisemore!) is totally nailing it on the creative consequences.  Recently, she shared this favorite and I can assure you that we will be implementing it in the Hunter Household, post haste.

The Penalty Jar

For this, you’ll need a jar and post it notes (one color per kid).  Come up with different consequences, redirections or “penalties” based on each individual child.  Sometimes it could be losing a privilege, having to skip dessert, or it could be completing some sort of chore or task.  Either way, you are giving your kiddo some control by allowing them to draw a slip of paper out of the jar.  I love how this is going to be individualized, but the same process for each kid.  And the “penalty” will change each time, so it will get me out of my ineffective habit of immediately taking away electronics as my go-to.  I also want to throw in a few slips of paper with the word GRACE written on them.  Sort of like a free-pass, but really a great lesson in how we can receive grace when we least expect it!

So, I am super curious about what some of your favorite redirections, consequences, etc. might be.  When I did a quick search of “Consequences” on the blog, I found that we have very few blogs about this topic on Austin Moms Blog.  And while I’m sure most of us have perfect children that never need any sort of behavior guidance, I have an up and coming toddler who is in. to. everything.  (Help me, Rhonda!)  

Let us know what your most creative consequences are in the comments, on Facebook, IG or Twitter.  We’d love to hear from you!