Family Rules

OK, this is my blog, and I write my blog for me, so today I need to vent. Luckily for you, you don't have to read if you don't want to. :) But I need to document this now so I can save it for later when it applies to me, and hopefully be able to say, "Yes, that's what I did and I'm proud of how I raised my kids."

Disclaimer: I do not have children of my own, yet. I am very well aware that it is not as cookie-cutter as sometimes it seems to be. Nor do I think I'll be the best parent with the best children in the world. I am very clear that sometimes there are circumstances that happen and shape situations. But, I will try my very best to raise civilized, respectful, and loving children with the help from many, especially God's word.

I truly love working with kids, but some days, I just can't take it anymore. Today was one of those days.  I've been teaching for 6 years, and it seems like each year there are more and more misbehaved kids over the well-behaved kids.  I don't just mean mouthy kids. I mean children who will get in your face and scream, back-talk you like you've never heard, and sass you till the cows come home. I have students who will lie to my face even though there is proof in front of them, and who will make up elaborate stories to get out of whatever it is that got them into trouble.
But what I've always said is this; For the most part, kids are not 'bad'. They become 'bad' because of their upbringing. Their household life. What they see. What they endure. What they are taught, or not taught. There. I said it. If you do not think it's true, you probably don't work with children.  You probably don't deal with 25-30 students a day with a different home life and story on a daily basis. But if you do agree with me, you are probably in my profession. :)

Well anyways, while B and I were going through the Pre-Marriage class at Southland {which I LOVED, which we would both recommend to anyone and everyone}, there was a part where we had to discuss future children.  The 2 couples who were running the class were young with young children.  They were open and honest and asked us to come up with some "Family Staples or Rules".  Now, I'm no dummy. I know I will be adding and deleting from this list once we have a family, but I thought the idea was a great way to get to know how your future spouse felt about family, children, upbringing, etc.  So, after we discussed our childhoods we made up a set of Family Rules.  {and yes, we agreed with all our rules. that's probably why I loved this class, because it made us feel so prepared for marriage, HAHA, quit rolling your eyes;)}
A few of ours are listed below. {don't judge me! :)}

Burton Family Rules:No cell phones, electronic devices while we're eating or having family time*
Show respect towards adults by listening to them
Talk about God as a part of our family daily**
Use simple manners often {please, thank you, yes, no thanks, etc.}
Kiss and say "I love you" every time someone leaves or goes to bed

OK, so I know none of the ones I listed above are genius ideas. But you know what, I think a lot of these ideas are some that aren't put into place anymore. Honestly.

*We chose this one because we HATE going out to eat and seeing the Mom and Dad on their smartphones and the kids on their Nintendo DS'.  I mean really? We already have this rule in place for just the two of us!My family went out to eat all the time and we didn't have that! Maybe the coloring menu and crayons but that still fostered conversation! Again, I work with kids all day. They LOVE to talk, but they really LOVE to have someone listen to them. It will not be an awkward dinner experience.
**I think this one has a lot to do with life right now. People are so busy. Too busy for God. Too busy to talk about God. I don't think it has to be one of those weird things where the Mom and Dad have to get all judging or awkward and read the Bible in tongues.  Talk about what good thing happened that day and how God is tied in to that. Talk about a situation that happened during a playdate, school, work, etc. and tie it into a similar situation God talks about in the bible. Easy things. Nothing weird. :)

So anyways, that's my soapbox and I will gladly step down now.
Also, I found these SUPER cute sites where you can get your Family Rules posted here, here,here, and here. My favorite is here by Sara Floyd Photography. If you look under her Products, then Family Rules, you can see several she's made!
I've bookmarked them for the future. Of course...maybe my Cricut could do that too....

via Just A Girl Blog