The Love Cup

Sometimes it seems that our lives can get so busy that we don't have time to appreciate and acknowledge all that we are doing to help ourselves and the world. We created the Love Cup in our house to do just that. Every night we each take turns telling each other what we did for ourselves and the world that day and put in one "gem" for each good deed. My son might say that he shared his silly pen with his sister. My daughter may have cleaned her room. It's been surprising to see some of the connections the kids have made such as Daddy went to work to help our family or Mommy is seeing a client to help them be happer. We also point out that when one of us does something for ourselves, it really helps the entire family (i.e. Mommy went to the gym so she could be healthy and have lots of energy to play). In addition, we remind each other about actions that qualify for the Love Cup - there is a kind of team mentality that has emerged. We have talked about having a reward when the gems reach a certain level but the kids don't seem interested in the reward - it seems that just being able to contribute and be acknowledged is reward enough for them.