Sunday, March 26, 2006

Token Inflation

These are tokens. There's a lot of them. Tokens are the currency of our household. They're actually poker chips with numbers written on them. I've had to redo the token values (they used to be just 1 tokens, all of them) because a) now the majority of our family can count to 10, and b) I wanted to break up the jobs into more divisions than 1 token jobs and 2 token jobs. So now we have white 1 tokens, blue 5 tokens, and red 10 tokens. I'm concerned if I let them inflate in value too much, we'll head into a token depression. Very sad. Then I have to start a Public Works Association, etc. Token charities....you know.

Earning Tokens
So, for example, the potty trainers get 1 token for going potty successfully (including redressing and washing hands). Emptying the dishwasher will be a 3 token job. Putting away the silverware only is a 1 token job. Picking up a family room is 3 to 5 tokens, depending on how many people are working on it. Watering trees in the summer earns 1 token/tree. Vacuuming is 5 tokens per room. 3 tokens for stairs. A bonus of the new system is I can now "tip" an extra token for a job that is especially well done.

Spending Tokens
TV time is 5 tokens/30 minutes, and a movie is 10 tokens. Whoever pays for the show gets to pick what's on. There is also a token store, up in my bedroom. It has stickers (from 3 to 10 tokens) and craft kits (10 to 25 tokens), usually bought from the dollar store.

Token Regulations
For nonviolent and not-so-heinous offenses (like leaving a wet mess in the bathroom after your bath that you don't have time to clean up before leaving for school, for example) persons may be fined tokens. If they have not the tokens to pay the fine, they may be indentured until the debt is paid. Token counterfeiting (using checkers in place of tokens or attempting to make your own tokens) is punishable by a grounding period of not less than 2 days. Theft of tokens whether from the bank or another family member, is punishable by a grounding period of 7 days, to be shortened if the tokens are returned and apologies are made.

In case you're wondering, 10 tokens = about $1 US. The blond hunk originally wanted to call them pesos, but I held out for the more PC "tokens". He also proposed 3 and 7 token denominations, but I'm sticking to the standard 5 and 10. We'll see how this goes.

Posted by Sarah Jean :: 8:01 AM :: 4 Comments:

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