Thinking About Family

Our focus in parent ed classes this year is families. We are using the book, The Secrets of Happy Families, by Bruce Feiler as our main book, supplemented by Happier at Home, by Gretchen Rubin, The 7 Habits of Effective Families, by Stephen Covey, and The Whole Brain Child, by Daniel Siegel and Tina Payne Bryson.

We started in October by hitting the basics: are we really raising children, or future adults? What strengths, abilities, and characteristics do we want this future adult to have when he or she heads out into the world, and what are we doing as parents that can help develop these characteristics? We have tried to be clear about what our values are and how we are putting our time, our money, and our energy into living these values in our families. And we have been learning and re-learning some Positive Discipline tools.

This month, November, we were really thinking deep about the meaning of family. What is the purpose of family, and what strategies do we use in our families to achieve that purpose? 

Here is some of what parents said:

• The purpose of family is to be an unconditionally loving place that nurtures you in all of life's circumstance.
• The purpose of family is to be a positive influence on our surroundings, both socially and environmentally. Always think of the effect you have.
• The end goal is to have family in 25 years. Family multiplies joys, and lessens burdens. 
• Family is an opportunity to preserve our values in the world.
• Family supports one another on our journeys.
• Family is community.
• We're better together.
• The purpose of family is for the passing down of our values.