Try This Tonight Checklist
The whole method, start to finish, on one page.
On a phone, scroll sideways inside the form to see all of it, or print it.
TRY THIS TONIGHT
BEFORE ANYONE'S IN TROUBLE
[ ] Pick ten tiles from your child's age pack, together.
[ ] Leave any tile that can't happen in your house in the box.
[ ] Put a Get Out of Trouble Free! tile in every bag.
[ ] Write the House Rules Card and tape it inside the bag.
[ ] Introduce the bag at a calm time. Let your kid hold the tiles
and practice a draw.
[ ] Put the bag where your kid can see it but can't play with it.
WHEN IT HAPPENS
[ ] First ask: can my kid choose right now? If not, or you can't
tell, comfort first. No warning, no draw.
[ ] Warn once: "If you do that again, it's the bag."
[ ] If it happens again, say one word: "Bag." Then walk, don't talk.
[ ] Your kid draws without looking.
[ ] Whatever comes out, that's it. No negotiating. No redraws.
[ ] Do it right away. Help if your kid is little.
[ ] If someone got hurt (age 5 and up): make it right, even on
a free pass.
[ ] If it was a lie (age 7 and up): the free pass comes out first.
AFTERWARD
[ ] Close it out: "Done. Thank you. Fresh start."
[ ] The tile goes back in the bag.
[ ] No lecture, no replay, no threats about next time.
[ ] Catch your kid doing the opposite later, and say so out loud.
EVERY FEW MONTHS
[ ] Review the tiles and the warning.
[ ] Hand a little more of the bag to your kid.The lesson: The bag works because the decisions are made ahead of time, when everyone is calm. Everything on this page is a decision you make once, so you don't have to make it at your worst moment.