How Sami's chores came about

For some reason unknown to me, Sami became fascinated with her dirty diapers. And not just hers, Janie's too. She was always trying to grab them or touch them. When she would get a hold of them, she would often stick them in her mouth. I know what you're thinking. Because I thought the same thing. That's really gross. And my reaction was always consistent, usually a horrified look with something like "Yucky Sami, put that down," or "Give that to mommy right now!" At which point she usually ran with the dirty thing, giggling. In a moment of frustration, followed by a moment of inspiration, I knew what I needed to do. I needed to take the game out of it, and I needed to replace the negative behavior with an acceptable behavior that I could consistently reinforce. And the only acceptable thing to do with a dirty diaper is throw it away. It only took one time of showing Sami what I wanted her to do, and she has been doing it ever since, and loving it. Her first "chore" is to throw away both her and Janie's diapers. Here's how it works:

Now if Sami ever forgets to do her job, I won't remind her because I really prefer she doesn't touch the germy things. And it would save me a lot of hand washing. But for now, she loves her chores.