Everyone needs motivation to do what is right. Children between age 5 and 10 want to be good, they want to please you, but they need a little more stimulus to help them along. Why not use something they love? The TV and the video games they can play on it. (Or the computer, Xbox, etc.)

There are many ways to do this. The main idea is that your kids need to work to gain the privilege of using these items. One could approach this in a negative way and ground your kids from using them when they disobey. But the positive method seems kinder and a good lesson on the value of earning a working wage. A combination of the two directions could also work.

Here are a few ways to use TV Time and Game Time to your advantage:

•    Create a chart listing the household chores that each child is responsible for. Let them mark when the job is completed.

•    You choose how many hours, games or shows they can earn for each finished chore.

•    This system requires consistency and follow-through, so if that is too hard, it is best not to even begin it.

•    TV time can also be an award for good grades or good behavior at school.

•    Using the TV in this way forces your kids to evaluate the shows they get to watch. It eliminates mindless evenings of one show after another with no real decision making about them.

You know your children better than anyone and you know what items and activities are important to them. It is not bribery to pay your children to do the jobs required in a family. It is modeling how the job/career system works for adults. Good pay for good work. That is a pretty clear and valuable lesson to give your children.