Should You Bribe Your Kids?

I forget who said it, but someone said that electronics is the currency that you can use to bribe your kids.  I feel that way at my house.  If they don't behave, no computer, no iPad, and most of the time, it works fairly well.

I also bribe them to do housework sometimes.  Other times I give them the whole "we all live here and we all need to chip in" speech.  And then sometimes I just yell.

According to a new survey, 94% of parents bribe their kids to make them behave. So, obviously I'm not alone.

Here are the top nine reasons why -

1.  For finishing their chores.  66% of parents said they reward them for it in some way.

2.  For getting good grades, 60%.

3.  For being good when you bring them shopping, 48%.

4.  Potty training, 44%.

5.  Eating everything on their plate, 31%.

6.  Finishing their homework, 28%.

7.  To make them stop crying, 18%.

8.  To make them stop fighting with their siblings, 18%.

9.  To get them to smile for a photo, 8%.

Wanna know what people use to bribe their kids?

The number one answer was an "experience", like a trip somewhere, a movie, or the zoo.  The second most bribed treat was something sweet, like a cookie, followed by toys, more TV time, a later bedtime, and money.

Hmmm... seems us bribers are definitely not alone.  And I feel like that's okay.  I mean don't we all just get bribed all day everyday as adults.  I'm being bribed as I write this blog!

Bethany, if you write the correct number of blogs per week, plus talk on the radio for 20 hours, plus do live events and attend meetings, plus "other" we will give you a paycheck.

Bribe accepted.

So there, we're just teaching our kids to get ready to weeeerk!