The girls were supposed to pick up the living room. We piled everything in a pile in the middle of the floor, mostly laundry and toys, but school papers end up there as well. But that's a boring thing to do with one's weekend, and they found themselves easily distracted. After numerous reminders and warnings, I finally got tired of it. I called them to me in the next room and said "I want that pile cleaned up. Whoever cleans up most will get ice cream." Jaws dropped and they ran out of the room to clean up.
Jeremy looked at me incredulously. "Are you going to watch them?" he asked. "No," I said.
About five minutes later they came rushing back, assuring me that they each picked up the most. I made a production of walking into the living room to somehow determine who had done the most. Imogen started picking up the coloring book mess. "Look!" she said loudly, "I'm picking up things that are NOT in the pile!" Genevieve scrambled to help. After a short deliberation and analysis, I concluded that they both picked up the same amount of stuff and thus would both get ice cream.
Which was the point from the start. But if you promise that they'll both get ice cream when they are finished with the chore, then what's the motivation to do it quickly? And if you put a time limit on that, then they must compete with a clock, which is insubstantial and rather abstract to a child. But seeing your sister pick up with your own eyes, knowing that she might be the one to get the ice cream? That's motivation.
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