by Jayshree Sita, mom to 2 gorgeous, lively kids, Amishka 9yrs and Vishen  5yrs.  She traded the glamorous life of a chartered accountant to become a teacher. She’s also an aspiring writer and artist who is passionate about self-development and keeping her family happy.

I was once again frustrated with my 5 yr old because he did not want to get ready for school, and was wondering how best to get him to co-operate with the early morning routine. I’ve tried many times to have rules that we agree on, as well as incentive plans and punishments. Somehow, none seem to have worked consistently.

I remembered an idea in the Stephen Covey book, “7 Habits of Effective Families”…suggesting we formulate a family vision and mission statement, including  a set of family values to guide us.

So, I thought that if we agreed on “punctuality” as a family value, this might work better than the “be on time or else…” philosophy.

I  decided to define and agree on values together with my kids. This is what we came up with:

1.       Be caring and kind to each other

2.       Take care of our things

3.       Have fun together

4.       Be honest

5.       Learn to say sorry

6.       Be punctual

7.       Share work

8.       Respect privacy

9.       Everyone gets a turn to talk, and the rest must listen without interrupting

10.   Share stories

11.   Learning is important

12.   Say thank you every day

13.   Everyone is unique and special in their own way

I must admit, drawing up this list felt a lot better than drawing up a list of rules. I felt great that my kids agreed to everything on the list- in fact they came up with a lot of it. I also know that agreeing on the values is only half the battle won, living by them will be the challenge.

Bearing in mind that we all learn by experience and not by words, I guess the journey has just begun.

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