Family Rules
- leadevine
- Mar 30, 2021
- 1 min read
When my kids were younger, I went to Bed, Bath and Beyond and bought a sign, sure to remind us how to be the right kind of family. It's been 11 years now, and I'm taking that sign down. I've created a new sign for me and my kids.
The old sign says this:
Family Rules:
Help Each Other
Always Tell the Truth
SHARE
Do Your Best
Pay with hugs and kisses
Listen to your parents
Laugh at Yourself
Say I Love You
TRY NEW THINGS
Be Thankful
Show Compassion
BE HAPPY
Love Each Other
Dream Big
Respect one Another
Laugh Out Loud
Keep your promises
Say Please and Thank You
BE GRATEFUL
Think of others before yourself
USE KIND WORDS
Know you are loved
HUG OFTEN
It's not like these are bad rules, it's just that they are Bed, Bath and Beyond rules.
My new sign would look something like this:
Family Rules:
Help each other and those who don't have enough
Always tell YOUR truth
SHARE
Listen to your knowing
Laugh with yourself
Show up for your people
Live from your imagination
Show gratitude for your people
Show compassion for yourself and those in the outer most rings of human ranking
Respect and listen to your knowing
Laugh Out Loud
Keep your promises to yourself and your people
Let the drawbridge down for only those who bring love
Only love in, only love out
Take your meds
Look for the unseen order of things
Be your own touch tree
Feel it all
I love these new family rules. I love my children. I also want them to find who they are outside of what this world says they should be. We don't need more rule followers, we need more dreamers. More Goddamn Cheetahs.
* Much of the language in my new family rules comes from the book "Untamed" by Glennon Doyle, Dial Press, 2020.
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