Excerpts from the book FROM COMBAT ZONE TO LOVE AT HOME:  THE HAPPY FACE TOKEN SYSTEM-DEBBIE PREECE


Notice these (Rewards) are individual things. You might find yourself saying something like: “Why would I want to put these kinds of things on the list?” Here comes the COUNTER- INTUITIVE THINKING; the children do these things ANYWAY. This is what they like to do. Think about it; you tell the children no,they keep it up; the R. P.M. goes haywire and after the fifth time yelling, the kids finally give you want you want. Now they can EARN TOKENS to do these things. They will do what you ask them to do happily and cheerfully, the first time they are asked, to earn these special rewards. No more R.P.M.!


As to the household duties; the children will earn Happy Face Tokens as rewards to PAY YOU to do these things. Remember, you do these things anyway; now you will be paid with Happy Face Tokens and do it happily and cheerfully with much appreciation from the children.


 Things that take you away from the home, like go to the library for reading time, SHOULD NOT be put on the list UNLESS you are willing to drop what you are doing and fulfill the reward due at the time tokens are redeemed or cashed in. (I will be using the term “cash in” often.) When the children pay you to do what you do anyway, they will thank you for being the best Mommy in the whole world because unless they have tokens, they have to do the work. Now they can appreciate how hard you work.


 You will not introduce this part of the arsenal (the list of things we have just discussed) to your children yet. Be thinking about what kinds of things that your children will probably mention. Think about both what they like to do and what they don’t like to do. In your mind, rate these things from: I hate this thing they do to I don’t care if they do it.

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What Makes the Happy Face Token System Work? For Simple Pleasures & Mom’s Happiness!