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Thursday, February 14, 2013

Health & Fitness Contract for Kids.


The Sisters want to earn some money. Being the cool junior conservatives they are, they don't ask for allowance or a handout, they ask, "Mom, can you make some jobs for us so we can buy a hamster?"
I dig that.
We have certain chores in our home that are to be done because it's part of being in a family. "Earnin' your keep", some would say. Others might say, "Learnin' to serve." I agree with both. Still, there are some paid jobs like, $.50 per load of folded and put away laundry (best money I ever spent), for example.

But, they were looking for a little more and the fact is, I've got something I'd like us to get back on track with and I'm at a place where I'm willing to pay for it. Not for long term, but for a time.

Here's how I came up with the plan:

I'm about thinking outside the box here, with this parenting gig. I know kids need to be motivated, and I've been given insight on how to motivate mine: financially.  So, I see all these Cell Phone Contracts and Driving Contracts that parents are having their kids sign and, well, they seem like grand ideas, so what about a Health & Fitness Contract?

The Sisters love their sports, but they (like me) are lacking in some conditioning areas. I blame myself for complaining about running all the time. They are both pretty good at it, but I have taught them to hate it.   Fantastic. Big Sister loves her fruit and drinks a lot of water, but doesn't love the greens. Little Sister tears up some salad and carrots and green beans, but her only fruit is an apple. They inherited a love for chocolate chip cookies, Chicken Minis, & ice cream. Also, there's the fact that 2012 was a bit of a different year for us, with all the zip codes we were in and all, so we were inconsistent with our fitness.

So, Mom got a plan.
I'm sharing it with you 'cause I like you and I believe it may be useful to somebody, somewhere.
Health & Fitness Contract & Payment Schedule.
Feel free to use/share, I took all the numbers out so you can customize.
Just be nice & give credit to the author.
****Updates Below****
Let me be clear:

  • I'm not bribing. Bribing is paying before the deed is done. I worked on this for a couple of days, had Spouse help me tweak it and whatnot, before presenting it to the Sisters. There are no freebies, here. I feel like this would even be Dave Ramsey approved. :)
  • I'm not a doctor, nutritionist, fitness expert, or guru of any kind. I'm a mom. Period.
  • I don't even know how much H20 kids should drink a day. I just chose what seemed reasonable to me. 
  • There are minimums. If the minimums aren't met for the week, there is no payment. Boom.
  • To many of you, the fruit/veggie thing isn't enough servings. I get that. Tweak it to fit your current needs. 
  • "Jog a mile"- This requirement is because I know their level. You adjust.

Big Sister is choosing to get her veggies by drinking them. She's drinking the Green Juice* and gettin' her done. (There are a ton out there, below is the recipe we use. I just like one with veggies AND fruit. So, you just pick one.)
Both Sisters are very financially motivated right now, so we are four days in and going strong! :) I'll keep you posted!

*Green Juice Recipe
Handful of Kale
2 small green apples (if you only have red, use em.)
Half cucumber, peeled.
2 whole carrots
2 celery sticks
Half peeled lemon (optional, I like it, Big Sister doesn't.)
Put them in a good juicer, in any order and stir. Cheers!

Feel free to offer up suggestions and ideas here! For real! Help a sister out!

2 comments:

  1. Can you make a Health and Fitness contract for me????? Meghan and Maddy are Blessed with such a creative and caring mom!!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Thank you for this. I've been looking for such a contract to get my kids moving.

    ReplyDelete