whatever!

Little Miss Sophia has taken to talking back lately ("whatever mom!"), refusing to listen, saying "no!", and whining. All. The. Time.

Ahhhh...gotta love the 3's.

(Of course, the other 75+ percent of the time she's an absolute angel. Oh, and if this is completely abnormal behavior and we are just terrible parents, please keep that info to yourself. Thanks!)

So, we made a special trip to Lakeshore last weekend to pick up this handy little tool:

This week's "goals" are as follows:

- Get dressed (this option should say "without whining")
- Brush teeth (again, without whining)
- Feed the pets
- Stop whining (YES!)
- Keep hands to yourself
- Take a bath
- Get ready for bed

The chart makes these seemingly small tasks more fun and rewarding because she's working toward her goals. It also provides us another way of reminding her of our expectations (without feeling like we constantly nagging her). The best part is that each goal has a picture next to it, which is perfect for pre-readers like Sophia.

Sophia is a very goal-oriented little girl. She's like me in that she likes the accomplished feeling she gets when she "checks things off her list". This chart essentially allows her to do just that. I wonder if she'll be a "to do list" girl like me someday? Poor thing!

Anyway, so far so good. Hey, it's worth a shot, right?