Points and rewards are live

Remember June, when I said points were next and then refused to put a date on it? They're in the app now.

My 13-year-old will shrug at a $2 credit. Ask her about choosing Friday's dinner and you'll get a different face.

Cash didn't go anywhere. Put $1.50 on emptying the dishwasher and 15 points on the same job, or skip the money and run points only. Plenty of families never wanted pocket money in the first place. I built this for that kitchen too.

How a claim actually works

You set a points value on a chore. After you approve the job, those points land in a jar on the kid's Rewards screen. Fifty points looks like a half-full jar and a line that says 25 to go for a new puzzle. They tap Claim on Cookie or snack for 10 points. Extra screen time is 25. A cinema trip is 80. You see a pending approval, same pattern as a chore. Turn it down and they keep the points. Once you approve, the jar drops.

I seeded a starter catalog so you're not staring at an empty list on night one. Ice cream is in there. So is headphones time, and stay up a bit later if your house can survive that. Pick the family movie. There's a backyard tent night if you're feeling brave. You can rewrite any name you like, or pause the ones that don't fit. Bin a reward and the history of who already claimed it stays put.

Why bother, when the whiteboard is right there?

The whiteboard lies after a fortnight. A 15-year-old will swear they had 40 points left. The ledger is just a running total, so there's no balance field you can nudge. Earned points sit there until they're spent. A lolly for 10 points shows up the same way a cinema trip for 80 does.

Does this replace pocket money? No. I still think cash teaches a lesson points can't. Although if your kids are younger, or you're tired of the canteen-money loop, points take pressure off your wallet without lowering the standard. The job still has to be done properly before anything moves.

I built this because families kept asking for rewards that don't come out of a purse. A later bedtime costs you sleep, not $8. Let them pick the playlist and you'll find out what they actually listen to in the car. Those deals were already happening after dinner. Nobody had written them down next to the bins and the dishwasher.

If you've only used ChoreLogger for pocket money, open Rewards this week and delete half the starter list. Keep the treats your kids would actually fight over. Then stick points on tomorrow's chores and wait to see who notices first.