Smiles & Frowns™ didn’t begin life as an app, and it certainly didn’t start with a little ™ symbol.

It started off as homemade rewards chart for three kids, hung prominently by the front door, where it became the focus of a Mom and Dad’s endless tinkering.

Right away, other parents saw our behavior plan had a twist. Awarding both Smiles and Frowns in a way that let kids create their own rewards-buying power was different, and it really worked.

But success still ran a bit too hot and cold, which we found was a common curse for rewards charts. So Dad kept tinkering, and slowly came up with the 5Cs of Positive Reinforcement™: Clarity. Consistency. Collaboration. Consequence and a sense of Challenge.

These weren’t five new features, but five key pillars of a new approach. We believe that supporting all five Cs leads to a strong economy of expectations that kids can count on and stick with. But let even one C slide, and the system starts to fall apart, voices start to rise, and it’s back to crazy town fast.

This new approach gave us something even stronger to build around. And that’s when it hit us: If we really wanted to put our ideas into motion, we’d need the kinds of features that just don’t fit on a big board by the door.

Nah, we were gonna have to go out and make an app. And then get some ™s. And then start to tell you how this thing of ours works.

Welcome to Smiles & Frowns!

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