Tanner's New Shoes

Tanner has a bad habit of leaving his shoes wherever he happens to be when he takes them off: the middle of the kitchen, at the foot of the toilet, on the couch..... you get the idea. We reminded him and cajoled him to put them where they go- in the basket by the door- but he simply did not do it on his own without us forcing him to. Then, last week,we were at the shoe store buying shoes for Jake (who is growing out of things faster than we can buy them) and Tanner found a pair of "tie shoes" that he really wanted. So we made a deal: We would buy the shoes but he was not going to be allowed to wear them until he put his shoes away ON HIS OWN for 7 days.

I guess our middle child is really motivated by footwear because that's all it took. He came home from the shoe store and immediately asked me to make a chart that showed 7 days so he could cross off each day that he put his shoes in the right basket. Without fail that week he came home, took his shoes off, put them in the basket, and then crossed off the appropriate day of the week on the chart, always telling us how many days he had left until he could have his new shoes. He was so excited on Saturday when he woke up and was allowed to wear his new shoes. He was so proud of himself that we just had to take this picture. Now he puts his shoes where they go everyday without being asked. Of course, he knows that if he leaves them out, he loses them for the day, so that might be part of the continued motivation!