Everyday Magic

HUG AND KISS JAR
Limit Long Good-Nights with Numbered Coupons
"Briar's bedtime routine always included stories, hugs, and kisses. But he would constantly summon my husband and me back to his room for even more hugs and kisses. While I never mind showing my son affection, I realized he was using this as a stall tactic to keep from going to sleep. So we developed the Hug and Kiss Jar. I wrote the numbers one through ten on pieces of construction paper, one per square, folded them, and put them in a jar by his bed. After we've read the last story, Briar, age three, chooses a square from the jar and that's the number of hugs and kisses we share. He now looks forward to selecting his nightly number and no longer calls us back to his room. It helps him with number recognition and counting, too!" --Kerri Lehman, Dalton, Ohio

TICKETS FOR THE TUBE
Daily Coupons Limit Television Time
"To help my six-year-old daughter, Veronica, limit her amount of TV time, every morning I give her four TV tickets, each one good for half an hour. She turns one in for each half-hour show she watches, and when she runs out of tickets, she's done watching for the day. Leftover tickets are saved up and traded in for new books (one for every five tickets). She's cutting her own TV time and improving her reading skills in the process." -- Kim Zea, Santa Clara, California

MAGIC MOMMY DUST
Disperse Fears with a Quick Sprinkle
"In my house, Magic Mommy dust solves all kinds of problems. For instance, whenever one of my kids, Josh, age nine, or Claire, six, has trouble falling asleep at night and is afraid of something -- such as, monsters under the bed. I reach into my pocket for some invisible magic dust -- I sprinkle it around the room, under the bed, and on his or her face while saying, 'Magic Mommy Dust, work your magic!' It soothes their fears immediately. I've even put it in coat pockets before school when one of them has needed a little extra assurance. We all now believe in its power to make everyone feel safe and loved." -- Vicky DeCoster, Papillon, Nebraska

ROTATING MENU
Three-Week Menu Makes Meal Planning Automatic
After reading that the average family has two dozen meals they eat over and over, Karen Stowe of Norfolk, Virginia, listed her family's top fare and came up with a total of 21 entrees. Realizing she had three weeks' worth of dishes, she created a simple dinner roster, which she follows in order. After she prepares supper #21, for instance, she just starts again at the top of the list.
 Summer is the time to try out new dishes; the best are added to the list come September. And, because everyone hungers for a little variety, Karen builds in an occasional free night for "something totally different" (such as Chinese takeout).

SPECIAL DISPENSATION
Break-the-Rules Coupons
To give her children a little flexibility and control, Jennifer Prindle of Henrietta, New York, created coupons that allow the kids to break the house rules once in a while. On slips of paper, she wrote out permission to skip music practice, for example, or have a junk-food dinner. Each child gets just a few coupons a year, so "they're very careful about how they use them," Jennifer says.