In the mornings, normally it takes the boys 15-20 minutes to get themselves dressed.  They usually hide or wrestle or play or do anything but get dressed.  Separately, they have recently taken to playing games on my computer (PBS Kids or Nick Jr.) and I have started to use this to my advantage.  So, I started setting the timer on my watch for five minutes and telling them to be dressed in five minutes or they can’t play on the computer when they get home from school.  This has been mostly effective.

Yesterday morning, they got dressed on time and ate their breakfasts without complaint or spills.  We actually got out of the house a little early.  So, last night, I gave them Peeps Marshmallow Hearts as a reward for being so good.  Well, this morning, I was running a little late, so I told them that I wanted them to be dressed by the time I got out of the shower…and I didn’t threaten the computer this time, nor promise a treat.

So, when I got out of the shower, Matthew was sitting on the top step, completely dressed with a fully dressed Benjamin helping Matthew get his shoes on.  It was so sweet to see, because Ben was positioned exactly how I am when I am putting shoes on Matthew.

To top it off, Benjamin did not have his shoes on…He ran the risk of losing computer privileges or missing out on candy to make sure Matthew had his shoes on.  He is such a great big brother.