Parenting Hack: The Kid of the Day

If you are tired of the bickering about whose turn it is, or who gets to sit in the preferred spot on the sofa- here is your solution!

Liz, mom of 3, a client of mine and a member of my Facebook group, shared the best parenting hack ever: The Kid of the Day.

(watch my interview with Liz in my Peaceful Parenting Facebook group)

When her children were little, they all wanted to sit in a particular chair at the table. Liz thought back to her childhood and how her mom managed the issue of who got to sit in the front seat (remember those days?!): “My mom said, ‘you guys will have certain days and that’ll be the end of it.’” It worked.

Liz wondered if she “could take that and make certain days that the kids sit in the chair but expand on it and make it so that they felt special on that day. So that became The Kid of the Day.” Each of her 3 children has 2 days (and her husband has the seventh day!)

What privileges does Liz’s Kid of the Day get? They get to sit wherever they want, run errands with mom, help with dinner (a treat in Liz’s house!), and make all the decisions for the day. The KOTD hack even solves toy arguments:

“If somebody said ‘I want to play with that toy first,’ and the other one said ‘I want to play with the toy!’-  I would say, ‘Who’s The Kid of the Day?’ And they would say, ‘Oh, you’re the kid of the day, I’ll go after you.’”

What else could The Kid of the Day decide?

I’m imagining in my house the KOTD doesn’t have to walk the dog, and maybe the KOTD gets to decide the movie for family movie night. Maybe the KOTD gets to use the computer in my office instead of the Chromebook for homework. In your house maybe it’s who gets (or doesn’t have to take) first bath. So many possibilities!

How amazing is The Kid of the Day? Do you have any great hacks? Share them in the comments or hop on over to my Peaceful Parenting Facebook group. We need all the help we can get!