Mum praised for ‘brilliant’ parenting hack to stop the kids being naughty & all you need is some lolly sticks
ARE you at the end of your tether trying to figure out new ways to stop your kids being naughty and instil good behaviour? If so, we may have found just the ticket.
A Californian mum has been branded “brilliant” after she came up with a nifty parenting hack to stop your kids arguing simply by using ice lolly sticks.
Artist Valencia Walker shared her genius tip on TikTok last month and already its earned over 4.4million views.
In the clip, the mother-of-three, who goes by @valenciascalifornia, joked that she’s a “cool mom who is over her kids bull-shirt”.
She began: “My kids fight non-stop and pretty much I’m about to pay them to behave.
“A lot of you were like, ‘Hey, that’s bribing your kids. What are you doing?’, you bet your a** I am”.
Valencia then showed off the the large ice lolly stick she gives her children on a Sunday and explained that each is worth a dollar – if they misbehave or argue then one of those sticks is taking.
“Each of these Costco-sized popsicle sticks is worth a dollar,” she shared. “Each kid will start out with 10 each Sunday, which they’ve each meticulously decorated to prevent thievery.
“I will count them out every Sunday and hand them over.
She explained: “But you misbehave? I take one. You fight? I take one. You make me raise my voice? I take one.
“If I have to hear another argument over Fortnite? I take two.”
And while she may take some away for “bad behaviour”, Valencia said that her children can earn them back for good behaviour and at the end of the week she turns the sticks into “cold hard cash”.
“But I’m not a dictator so I’ll give you the chance to earn them back,” she added. “If you do something nice for someone I give you one.”
“Then the following Sunday they turn them in and I turn them into cold hard cash.
“My goal is break bad habits and to self correct bad behaviour”.
Although Valencia admitted she wasn’t sure if the exercise would work, the busy mother was praised by commenters who branded the tip “brilliant”.
One wrote: “Some people may call it bribery. I call it incentives and goals which are great teachings! Good luck.”
“Assistant Behaviour Therapist here,” another penned. “What you’re doing is not bribery. It’s gold.”
A third shared: “Adults have the same systems – it’s called ‘keeping your job’ and ‘not getting divorced’. Learning to co-exist is important.”
An inspired follower commented: “I legit think this is BRILLIANT! It will teach them ‘action and reaction’ their action will cause a reaction.
“They will a CHOOSE their reaction so they will modify behavior!! As adults it’s called WORK. GETTING PAID FOR YOUR ACTIONS” (sic).
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