Goal For It! (review)

If you have kids, you've probably had to deal with a tantrum or two, and you've probably done your fair share of asking -- repeatedly -- for something to be done. You know, it's the whole, "Time to get dressed!" "OK, you'd really better get dressed now." "It doesn't look to me like you're getting dressed, better hurry!" "If you don't get dressed right now . . . " that kind of thing.

(Please tell me I'm not the only one who goes through this with a 4 year old . . . )

Anyway, getting kids to do their chores or whatever it is you ask of them is capital-I Important and I know that. So, I work hard to be consistent and to get my little guy to listen and do as he's told. And that includes doing the little "chores" and "good behavior" things that my husband and I have decided he needs to do.

For the most part, my son is pretty good with it all. He asks to be excused when he's done with dinner, he clears his dishes. But, he's 4. So he has his moments.

So when I was invited to review the Goal For It Chore Chart I was interested to check it out.

I popped on to the Goal For It site and was able to create a chart very quickly and easily. There are many cute themes for the chart -- I went with baseball -- and several chores and behavior goals to choose from. For my son's chart, I chose:

• ready for school on time
• good manners at the table
• help clear table
• put clothes in hamper
• go to bed on time
• no tantrums

Each goal has a cute image with it to make it fun for kids.

I printed out the chart and put it on the fridge. My son and I talked about it and I told him how, at the end of every day, if he met a goal, we'd put a smiley face next to it.

You'd think I told him I'd buy him a puppy. The kid was that excited.

Having the goals on paper made him accountable. He wanted to earn his smiley face so he worked for it. One day, he started to have a tantrum over who-knows-what and I simply said, "Hey, that's a tantrum" and he stopped. Immediately. And then said, "I didn't really have a tantrum, Mommy. Can I still get a smiley face?"

Call me a wimpy mom, but I let him have the smiley face.

Here's how the week ended up (we forgot to start on Sunday):

Since he had rows of smiley faces, I let him put stickers on the chart. He loved it. Overall, the chart was a hit -- and a keeper! The site really is easy to use so if you are looking for a chore or behavior or some other goal chart for your kids, check it out!

Review disclosure: I was compensated for my review but the opinions expressed are entirely my own.