My last blog entry discussed sibling fighting and how to squash it. I continue to think of new and creative ways to address this never ending struggle for many parents. While at Target the other day, or shall I say at the Target Dollar Spot, I came up with a new idea:

I am sure most of you have heard of the "How Full Is Your Bucket?" book. For those of you who have not, let me explain. The book suggests that we all have invisible buckets that are filled when others do nice things for us, and drained when people say or do hurtful things. So when I saw these cute little buckets for a buck, I just knew what I had to do with them! I headed to the library to find these two books, and scrounged up some cotton balls.

Last night my family read these two books together (the one on the left is simpler for younger children to understand, but I thought they were both helpful). It took all my son had to hold in his sigh and fight the eye roll as he realized what this meant...

Yes- my kids will work to fill each other's buckets. Any nice gesture or kind phrase will allow that child to add a cotton ball into the other's bucket - they are being a "bucket filler". On the flip side, a "bucket dumper" with rude or unkind behavior will have to remove a cotton ball from the other's bucket. When 25 cotton balls have filled the other's bucket, the "bucket filler" will get to choose a prize. Note that prizes don't have to be toys or involve spending money. Prizes can include choosing dinner for that night, earning extra screen time, a special "date" with mom or dad, breakfast in bed. Creativity can lead to many fun and original ideas as rewards.

As always, share your children's bucket filling stories with me! Now go fill someone's bucket....