Friday, February 5, 2010

Family Rules

A few years ago I was watching Super Nanny.
She was discussing the idea of making a list of family rules.

I felt that this was such a great way to take the opportunity to talk with our girls about our expectations and the guidelines that we expect them to follow in our home, as well as in the real world.

I immediately jotted down a few things that I felt were important to us.
When we sat down with the girls to talk about these "rules", Mia was 3 and Sophie was 2.
I remember how interested they were in hearing all about these rules and how they were excited to show us how good they would be at following them!


I recently typed up our "Family Rules" and framed it.
It sits on my desk in our kitchen where everyone can see it daily.

Our Family Rules are as follows:
Be loving.
Be kind.
Be a good listener.
Put our family first.
Eat dinner together as a family.
Bring one topic to the dinner table each night.
Never yell.
Never hit.
Share your things with each other.
If upset, use your words to talk about your feelings.
Everyone must help with household chores.
Say your prayers every night.
No TV during dinner.
No cell phones during dinner.
No shoes on the carpet.
Make your bed every morning.
Do NOT interrupt.
Say please and thank you.


They are not extremely deep or philosophical, as the girls are still all under the age of 5.
But I feel it helps them know their boundaries and what is expected of them.
In my opinion, there is no greater comfort to a child than having structure and knowing what is expected of them.

After making my list, I realize there are SEVERAL
more things I could have added.
Such as.......

always wear your helmet when riding your horse....

(Gracie immediately yells for her "Hat" as soon as she hops on!)


get your beauty sleep......



and LIVE, LAUGH and LOVE in 2010!

(Don't you love my Williams-Sonoma Pig?! It's one of my favorite birthday gifts from last summer from my Mother & Father in-law and my Sister & Brother in-law Angie & Farris!)

I will add those in the future I'm sure. :)

One of the rules I like to follow, yet it's not on our list, is take as many pictures as humanly possible and display them above your desk like a crazy person!

Here are a few close ups of my craziness...

It's a Wonderful Life, indeed!

5 comments:

Working Mommy said...

I think the rule on beauty sleep is the MOST important!!

~WM

Heather @ Glitter and Gloss said...

Love your family rules, and all of those pictures!!

Anonymous said...

I just came across your blog and love it! Your girls are such beautiful angels. I have four sisters and everything you said is so true...I love them dearly and we had so much fun when younger. Lol. Sisters are the best!!

Matthew Celestine said...

'No shoes on the carpet' is an excellent rule.

I always get irritated by the fact that Supernanny never removes her shoes when visiting homes.

I have an whole blog on removing shoes in homes: Shoes Off at the Door, Please You might like to take a look.

Hissyfits & Halos said...

I love the pictures above the desk most of all. (I find a pig statue in the kitchen is too morbid for my house. lol It is cute, though.) Your home always looks so inviting, and warm. :) Well, aside from the bacon. hehe

 

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