Pinterest and Punch Cards

I am always trying to figure out new creative ideas on how to motivate my children to get their chores and schoolwork done.  Well, I came up with a new idea that I feel is a win-win.  That way, whether or not it motivates them, I still benefit in some way.  I created punch cards for the girls, which include the things they need to get done each week.

Each week, our school aged girls are expected to complete their card.  If they do, they get the following benefits…

Full Card Completed—

*Half their age in allowance, or their full age (times 100) in points to spend in the prize jar

*1^st person done gets to choose any food/treat on Mommy’s Pinterest to make with her (which is great because it forces me to make new things.)

*Anyone who finishes gets to eat the Pinterest food/treat

Half Card Completed—

*Don’t have to give anything away to goodwill.

*Get one bite of Pinterest food/treat

However, if they do not finish, they have the following punishments…

*Must give something of theirs to goodwill for every 5 punches they didn’t complete (each week that they don’t finish, the number goes down… for every 4 punches, for every 3 punches… etc.  Each time they finish, they start over at 5.)

*Do not get allowance for the week.

*Do not get dessert for the week.

Karina was the first person to finish.  She chose something that was pretty tricky.  It was a Snickers layered cake/pie.  We made two different kinds of homemade pudding from scratch—peanut butter pudding and chocolate pudding.  Then we also made homemade pouring caramel sauce and chocolate ganache too!  It was crazy but actually turned out pretty good.  Tierra also finished that week and was able to help make Karina’s dessert and of course, eat some too.

The next person to finish was Riana.  Riana chose an M&M cookie pie, which she made all by herself.  She really enjoyed cooking by herself and even made this two more times.  She made it once for a baby shower for me and once for her Young Women’s class, when she was teaching the class about talents.  Since I happen to love cookies, I thought the cookie pie was super yummy!!

The second time she made it, she repeated a mistake I made when I was her age.  Here is what I wrote about it on my Facebook, "So thankful for the mistakes I have made in my life so that I can have compassion for others. This afternoon, my 12 year old daughter volunteered to make a cookie pie for me to take to a party. Right before she put the M&Ms in, she said, "Mommy, I think it is a little too salty." I asked her if she put in 1/4 a teaspoon of baking soda and she said, "Whoops! I put in a 1/4 of a cup." I may have gotten frustrated, however because I completely understood, I laughed and laughed and told her about the time, when I was about 12, and I was making cookies with my friend, Emily, and we did the same exact thing. I told her that someday she will laugh with her children and tell them all about it! :)"  To which Emily replied, "Oh my gosh, I totally remember doing that!!! I remember we laughed soooo hard too :) I had some gooood times at your house when we were young."

The next couple of weeks, no one finished their cards, so Grant and I took turns choosing desserts to make or we just bought something extra special to eat.  One of the things Grant chose was a strawberry/banana/chocolate trifle-- part of it was an actual recipe and part of it, he made up.

The most recent person to finish was Tierra.  She wanted to make cookie ice cream sandwiches with sprinkles.  So we made chocolate crinkle cookies and put mint chocolate chip ice cream between them.  They were yummy like that, but also all by themselves.

Pinterest has actually been really good for me.  I am enjoying it.  Here are a few of the other things I have made from Pinterest…  1) A bomb for my friend, to go with a thank you card—“You’re the Bomb!”  2) I made soup!!  Soup scares me but I’m hoping Pinterest will help me get over that fear because I love homemade soup!  This one cut a few corners, which was great.  For example, it used chicken breasts instead of whole chickens.  It still tasted super yummy though!!  3) This frozen grasshopper pie was so easy and really yummy!!  I brought it to a baby shower.  The theme was “Cutie Pie.”